Rishi Sunak yesterday hit back against critics of leaked Tory proposals to send refugees and asylum seekers into outer space in rockets, calling the backlash “hyperbolic and absurd.”

Documents found in a central London drug den last week revealed secret government plans to appease xenophobic voters - playfully referred to as ‘xenos’ - by cramming newly arrived refugees into rocketships and sending them into Earth’s orbit.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Sunak said at the second of five emergency press conferences held yesterday. “The rockets would come down eventually and their passengers would be able to start building new lives wherever they land.”

Around 30,000 have crossed the English Channel by boat in 2024, according to the Home Office, while legal migration for the year is projected to hit 745,000.

When pushed on the costing for the project - at least £8 billion - and whether it might be cheaper, simpler, and altogether better for the soul to assimilate people trying to build a better life, Sunak laughed nervously and said, “Next question.”

Leader of the opposition Keir Starmer vaguely condemned the plans while refusing to rule out the possibility of doing the same thing himself.