Politicians caused the Rwanda deportation debacle

The problem with the bishops in the upper chamber is not that they speak too much, but too little. The attack on the government for sending migrants to Rwanda was a rare example of clerical intervention, but where were the bishops during the discussions about the evils of people-smuggling and the problem of migrants risking their lives in shoddy boats?

The reason we have religious leaders in the House of Lords is so that they can add thoughtful insights into important political issues of the day. Illegal immigration and the great dangers faced by migrants in their struggle to come here are just the sort of moral dilemmas that needs their attention, but they have for the most part been silent.

It is clear that our politicians are in urgent need of good advice. It is, in part, because the government failed to make the legal and moral case for their Rwanda immigration policy that it has now been so humiliated.