Rishi Sunak has said that no asylum seekers will be sent to Rwanda before the election under the government’s deportation scheme.
It had been thought ministers would try to get the first flight off before polling day, to showcase their flagship policy on countering illegal migration.
But the PM has now said they will go “if I’m re-elected” on 4 July.
Labour has pledged to scrap the plan if it wins power, raising questions over whether anyone will ever be sent.
The scheme, which has already cost £240m, will be a key dividing line between the two main parties over the six-week election campaign.
Labour has branded it a “gimmick,” arguing it will not achieve its stated aim of deterring people from crossing the English Channel in small boats.
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The programme, which has been delayed by legal challenges, was announced over two years ago by then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
But Mr Sunak has made delivering it a key priority of his premiership, regularly arguing it was central to his pledge to “stop the boats”.
In a sign he now wants to make delivering the plan a key offer to voters, he said flights will go “in July” and “that’s the choice at this election”.
Asked on BBC Radio 4 whether this meant after the election, he replied “Yes,” before adding “the choice here is clear”.
“If you think stopping the boats is important, and you think like I do that you need a deterrent to do that […] then I’m the only one that’s going to deliver that,” he added.
The Liberal Democrats called the comments an “utter humiliation and admission of defeat” from the prime minister.
“The Rwanda scheme has been an immoral and expensive disaster from day one,” added home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael.
