Boris Johnson today vowed to defend his controversial plan to force asylum seekers to Rwanda in a showdown cuppa with Prince Charles.
The Prime Minister - who is alongside the next King on a visit to a Commonwealth summit in the country - demanded his critics “keep an open mind about the policy”.
And as a cup of tea with the royal looms tomorrow in Kigali, the PM added: “Yeah, of course, if I am seeing the prince tomorrow, I am going to be making that point.”
Asked if he will defend his policy if Prince Charles raises it, Mr Johnson replied: “Yes.” He went on: “It hasn’t come up so far, of course.”
He also dug in his heels by claiming the policy was “successful” and “tackling dangerous smuggling gangs” despite court action halting a single flight taking off yet.
The PM was speaking at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda, where he also had a meeting with the country’s President Paul Kagame.
Downing Street claimed the two leaders - who signed a pact which will see the UK send £120m to Rwanda - “praised the successful UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership”.
They claimed it “is tackling dangerous smuggling gangs while offering people a chance to build a new life in a safe country,” Downing Street said.
That is despite No10 earlier saying it is too early to tell whether it is deterring people from crossing the Channel in small boats.
Prince Charles reportedly branded Britain’s £120m deal to send unwanted asylum seekers to the capital Kigali “appalling”, and bishops have said it shames Britain.
It’s thought the Prince of Wales did not have brush-by meeting with the PM today, but the pair will meet for a cup of tea on Friday.
It is understood that it is unlikely that the Prince and Prime Minister will discuss the Rwanda migrants policy during their catch up.
The three topics on the agenda are sustainability, youth - including the work of the Prince’s Trust International and the fact that 60 per cent of the Commonwealth’s population is aged under 30 - and the history and values of the Commonwealth and Charles’s passion for it.
Mr Johnson told ITV in a pooled interview: “I am delighted that Prince Charles and everybody here is today to see a country that has undergone a complete, or a very substantial transformation.”
Asked if he will defend the deportation strategy in his meeting with Charles, he said: “People need to keep an open mind about the policy, the critics need to keep an open mind about the policy.
“A lot of people can see its obvious merits.
“So yeah, of course, if I am seeing the prince tomorrow, I am going to be making that point.”
Earlier the PM blasted his opponents’ “condescending attitudes” towards the Rwanda plan - but insisted he was “looking forward” to seeing Prince Charles.
Speaking before he set off for Rwanda, the Prime Minister said his trip would “help us all to understand for ourselves what that partnership has to offer, what the Rwandans have to offer, and perhaps to help others to shed some of their condescending attitudes towards Rwanda and how that partnership might work.”
He added: “I’m conscious I’m arriving before anybody who’s travelled illegally across the Channel is arriving, I cannot conceal that fact from you, there it is, but it’s still the case that no UK court has ruled our plan unlawful and no international court has ruled our court unlawful either.”
Asked if Prince Charles - who reportedly branded the policy “appalling” - was one of those “condescending” people the PM replied: “I have no evidence for the assertion you’ve just made about the Prince’s comments. I can’t confirm that.
“What I can say is that I think the policy is sensible, measured and it’s a plan to deal with the grotesque abuse of innocent people crossing the Channel.”
It will be the first time the pair have met since bombshell reports emerged that the Prince of Wales had branded the policy “appalling”.
A Clarence House spokesman said: "As we have said previously we will not be commenting on supposed remarks made in private except to say that the prince is politically neutral.
"Policy is a matter for government."
Boris Johnson added after his meeting with Rwanda's President: "I just had a great talk with Paul Kagame.
"He cares passionately about this. He has himself been a refugee for a long time. He knows what it is like. He sees the problem of vulnerable people being trafficked across the Channel and being trafficked around the world.
"He sees this as an opportunity to fix what is an increasing global problem, by a partnership between the UK and Rwanda."
To critics of the policy, he accused them of basing their concerns on "a perception, perhaps a stereotype of Rwanda that is now outdated".
But Downing Street did not make any mention of the PM raising Rwanda's human rights record in the meeting.
That is despite 24 groups warning Rwandan media and civil society face “relentless harassment, attacks and threats” and “unlawful detention and torture are rampant" ahead of the summit.
