It seems an oddly obvious thing for a practising barrister and former Justice Secretary to say – but Sir Robert Buckland, South Swindon MP, thinks the rule of law should be upheld.

His comments come after the KC was asked his thoughts on comments from his party's deputy chairman, which suggested the government should "ignore the law".

Lee Anderson’s suggestion came after a Supreme Court ruling that the government’s flagship policy to send asylum seekers and refugees who enter the country without permission to Rwanda for both processing and to live was unlawful.

Mr Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, spoke to the Press Association after the ruling and said: “My take is we should just put the planes in the air now and send them to Rwanda and show strength.

“It’s time for the government to show real leadership and send them back, the same day.

“I think we should ignore the laws and send them straight back the same day.”

Asked his opinion on Mr Anderson's comments, Sir Robert said: “Conservatives respect and believe in the Rule Of Law and must uphold it at all times.”

There are currently more than 135,000 migrants in the UK awaiting a decision on their claim for asylum. That number has been largely stable at below, or around 20,000 until it started rising in 2017 and 2018 and has grown rapidly since.