Liz Truss has said she would “support and extend” the government’s controversial Rwanda deportation policy “to more countries”.

The widely criticised strategy, introduced by the current Conservative government, has been the subject of numerous court cases and received widespread international backlash.

Both Tory leadership hopefuls Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak have previously committed to continuing the policy if they become the next prime minister.

But today, the foreign secretary has gone further and said she would not only maintain the policy but also broaden it to other nations.

“We need to make sure that the appalling people traffickers don’t succeed in bringing small boats across the English Channel,” she told ITV when asked about her plans to tackle the rising number of crossings.

“I would support and extend the Rwanda policy to more countries but also I would make sure in British law that we can’t be overruled by the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) so we are able to protect our borders.”

So far, legal challenges have prevented any deportations to Rwanda happening.

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Last month, the home affairs select committee said there was “no clear evidence” the Rwanda plan will work, and the chair of the committee Yvette Cooper described it as a waste of taxpayers’ money.

But several Iraqi people smugglers who spoke exclusively to Sky News in July said that Britain’s controversial Rwanda policy could work.

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