Sammy Wilson says he fears 'spineless' Tory government 'going soft' over return of asylum seekers from Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland

Mr Wilson’s remarks came as the government said late on Wednesday night that “the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest” (our emphasis).

Earlier that day, the prime minister had declared: “I can confirm that the United Kingdom has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland.”

This was re-emphasised soon after by Tom Pursglove, a junior Tory minister responsible for legal migration, who said: “As the Prime Minister has rightly said, including at Prime Minister’s questions, we are not going to accept returns from the EU via Ireland when the EU does not accept returns to France, from where illegal migrants are coming to the United Kingdom.”

All of this comes after the Irish justice minister announced last week, when asked about the origin of asylum seekers in the Republic, that “a significant proportion of people are coming through the border now … I would say higher than 80%”.

Rishi Sunak said this is evidence that his Rwanda plan is having a “deterrent” effect; that is, his policy of deporting a small minority of those who arrive illegally to the UK and then claim asylum to the east African nation, with no right to come back to the UK again.

The Irish government has freed up some 100 gardai to help with deportations, with reports that a number of them are being redeployed to the border.

The Irish government’s 80% claim which kicked off this whole row is hotly disputed, with the DUP’s Ian Paisley saying the figure was “made up” as a way of blaming “the bad old Brits” for Dublin’s own mismanagement of immigration.

In a statement, the Northern Ireland Office said yesterday: “The secretary of state for Northern Ireland and the tánaiste had a constructive phone call today regarding illegal migration.

“The tanaiste [Foreign Minister Micheal Martin] confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Síochana to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.

“The secretary of state reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.”

Asked if he is concerned the UK government is softening its stance on returns, Mr Wilson said: “It wouldn’t surprise me, because we’ve got a spineless government.

“It seems every time the EU or EU countries – especially the Irish – put a bit of pressure on them, they buckle.

“On the other hand, it could be regarded as language which allows them not to appear to be too intransigent but still gives them the option of refusing to take anybody – because it’s not in their interests, under any circumstances, to take people back.

“If they do, it means the Rwanda policy becomes less effective. They argued the flight of illegals to Ireland was an indication that their [Rwanda] policy was working and people were scared.

“If now they say ‘oh well we will take you back’ then of course the message they’re sending out is they are going to go soft on this.

“I did raise the issue in the House of Commons when I asked Tom Pursglove [junior immigration minister] ‘are you going to stand firm, and what specifically will you do if the Irish government don’t simply decide to put all these illegals into buses, take them to the border, and dump them at the border – what are you going to do then?’

“He didn’t give me an answer to it.”