Downing Street refused this lunchtime to guarantee a removal flight to Rwanda would definitely happen tonight after a torrent of legal challenges.
Asked just before noon, Boris Johnson ’s official spokesman said “at this point I can’t be definitive” when asked if the highly controversial plane would still take off.
But events are moving quickly and despite the comments, it's understood officials were still confident that a small number of asylum seekers will be on the flight.
Moments after No10's comments in a press briefing, one of four asylum seekers who tried to block his removal at the High Court this morning had his case dismissed by a judge.
The man, an Iranian Kurd who had suffered PTSD in Turkey while travelling to the UK, had brought a claim asking not to be removed on the upcoming flight due to his mental health and his relationship with his sister in the UK.
However, in a short ruling on Tuesday morning, Mr Justice Swift refused to grant interim relief.
A Vietnamese man also failed to persuade a High Court judge to halt his removal to Rwanda, in the second case of the day.
His barrister said the man had claimed asylum after receiving "death threats from loan sharks" in Vietnam and had not been given a reasonable opportunity to make representations.
But Mr Justice Swift also refused to grant interim relief.
Up to 130 asylum seekers were told they would be on the first charter flight to the African nation ordered by the Home Office.
But despite the Court of Appeal allowing the flight to go ahead, and the Supreme Court refusing permission for a further appeal this lunchtime, the number of passengers was whittled down to seven by individual legal actions.
And the number could be reduced further today as four of the people due to be on the deportation flight, including from Iran, brought challenges in the High Court.
The legal battles could end up with the bizarre scenario of asylum seekers being flown to Rwanda - only to brought back a few weeks later.
Supreme Court President Lord Reed said there had been an "assurance" that, if the policy is later found to be unlawful, steps will be taken to bring back any migrants who were flown to Rwanda.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss vowed the flight would go ahead with only a few passengers despite costing hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But asked this lunchtime if it would definitely happen tonight, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman replied: “There are ongoing legal challenges in relation to this, so at this point I can’t be definitive.”
Asked if it would not fly if all asylum seekers were pulled off the flight, he replied: “That’s my understanding, but I’m not going to be speculating on what courts may or may not decide.”
He refused to rule out letting the flight go ahead even if only one asylum seeker is on board.
The spokesman said further flights are expected in “weeks” but gave no date. He refused to say if it would take off from an RAF base.
They will be “removed” with a one-way ticket almost 5,000 miles away to Rwanda.
Once there they will be barred from claiming asylum in Britain, instead having to ask the east African nation for sanctuary.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the policy was "completely moral" but Church of England leaders, including the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, branded it an "immoral" plan that "shames Britain".
If it goes ahead, the flight to Rwanda is set to cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The Home Office spent £6.3m on 38 charter flights to deport or remove people from January 1 to July 28 last year - nearly £167,000 per flight.
But the cost of Rwanda removal flights will be higher because the vast majority of those flights were only to eastern Europe.
And the bill excluded the cost of “escorts”, to ensure people being forced to leave the UK do not escape or harm themselves or others.
A Freedom of Information response showed the 38 planes carried just over 750 people, an average of 20 each.
The busiest plane carried 37 “returnees” but one, to Lithuania, carried just three.
The Home Office insists the asylum system costs £1.5bn a year by comparison, including £5m on hotel costs per day.
A Home Office source said: “Can people really put a price on the cost of saving human lives and securing our nation's borders?”.
Campaigners Freedom from Torture have claimed the Spanish firm Privilege Style will be operating the charter flight.
According to airfleets.net, the firm has four active aircraft which can each seat more than 200 people.
They are an Airbus A321-200, a Boeing 757-200, a Boeing 767-300 and a Boeing 777-200.
The Mirror has contacted the firm for comment.
Critics have pointed out that, under Priti Patel's Rwanda deal, the UK will resettle "a portion of" Rwanda's most vulnerable refugees in Britain under an exchange agreement.
No10 was unable to say whether that could mean more asylum seekers will end up coming from Rwanda to the UK than the other way round.
However, Home Office sources have previously said the number of people coming from Rwanda would be in the tens, not the hundreds.
