Priti Patel has abandoned her plan to use pushbacks in the Channel days before the policy was set to be challenged in the High Court.

       Correspondence from the government legal department on Sunday night states that the Home Office had withdrawn the policy due to the fact that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was taking over operations in the Channel.

       The judicial review claims, lodged by the PCS Union, Care4Calais, Freedom from Torture and Channel Rescue, have now been withdrawn, with the Home Office having agreed to pay the claimants costs.

       The organisations were due to argue that the policy, which would have authorised and encouraged Border Force officials to forcibly redirect vessels carrying migrants back to France, was unlawful at a three-day hearing on 3 May.

       But the letter, signed on behalf of the treasury solicitor, states that the policy had been withdrawn after the home secretary was informed last week that the MoD did not have permission to deploy the pushback tactic.

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       “As a result of a military order notified to the [home secretary’s] officials earlier on 20 April 2022, the Ministry of Defence Joint Commander has not had permission to authorise the use of turnaround tactics,” it states.

       “As a consequence of these matters, a number of issues relevant to this litigation needed further discussion and review.”

       Jeremy Bloom, lead solicitor representing PCS and Care4Calais said: “We are convinced that the Home Secretary has withdrawn the policy because she knew that she would lose in Court if she went to trial.？

       “The Court would have found that she does not have a power under existing legislation to do this, and that she would have been authorising her officials to use force unlawfully, and in breach of the rights to life and to be free from inhumane treatment, which are rights protected by the Human Rights Act.

       “This is a good day for vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers and for the Border Force officials that would have been under great pressure from the home secretary to put their lives and the lives of refugees at risk.”

       The climbdown comes as the Nationality and Borders Bill reaches its final stages in Parliament. The House of Lords has twice rejected parts of the bill that would severely penalise refugees arriving in the UK without a visa, as refugees are fully entitled to do under the Refugee Convention.

       The bill return to the House of Lords on Tuesday, where peers are expected to mount further opposition.

       Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “This humiliating climbdown by the government is a stunning victory for Home Office workers and for refugees.

       “The pushbacks manoeuvre is extremely dangerous and represents a clear risk to life and limb. We were simply not prepared to allow our members to be placed in this horrendous position.”

       Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, said:？？"Threatening these tactics is yet another example of this government trying to score political points by bullying vulnerable people who simply need our help.”

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       She added that the charity was now preparing to challenge the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing it as “another staggeringly expensive exercise when we should be helping people who are simply trying to escape conflict, persecution and torture".

       More follows..