Rishi Sunak suffers major defeat in House of Lords over 'reckless' Rwanda plan

Rishi Sunak has suffered a major blow as peers inflicted the first defeat against his flagship Rwanda deportation plan.

Peers defied the Government and voted by 214 to 171 to delay ratifying a treaty with the east African nation - a key plank of the PM's controversial policy. The setback comes just days after the under-fire PM begged the upper chamber not to scupper his plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda before the general election.

The Labour peer Lord Goldsmith proposed a motion recommending that Parliament should not ratify the Rwanda treaty until ministers can show the country is safe.