The Church of Scotland has welcomed a ruling by the Supreme Court deeming plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda unlawful. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the government will appeal the judgment handed down on Thursday. 

The government argues that the plan will stop small boats arriving across the English Channel. 

Welcoming the Supreme Court's ruling, Emma Jackson, the Kirk's vice-convener of the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team, said the government should instead work on establishing safe and legal routes for people seeking sanctuary in the UK, and increase its international aid spending.

She also called on the government to change the rules so that asylum seekers whose claims have not been determined after six months are allowed to work.

"The Church has consistently argued that the plans were unacceptable in the way they treated individuals, removing their rights and robbed them of their humanity," she said. 

"The UK government must now urgently rethink its Illegal Migration Bill and its whole approach to reforming the broken asylum system.

"Time and again it has proved to be cruel, unlawful, expensive and ultimately ineffective in delivering the aims of reducing irregular migration.

"As Christians, we believe in welcoming the stranger, we are all made in God's image and Jesus himself was a refugee."

She added, "[We] must only use detention as a last resort."

Christian crossbench peer, Lord Alton, wants the government to withdraw the Illegal Migration Bill in light of the court's ruling.

He told Premier Christian News that the government should "go back to the drawing board" and work to "build a political consensus rather than the toxicity that we have at the moment".