Rishi Sunak ‘entirely confident’ Conservatives will win general election despite polls
Rishi Sunak has denied his party is preparing for election defeat and insists his team is “fired up” about winning a full term.
Asked what his message would be to Tory MPs despondent about the party’s lag in the polls, Mr Sunak said he was “entirely confident we can win the next election”.
“I am working to get a first full term. I will show the British people what I am capable of in the time I have now before the election,” he said.
Some Tories fear that Mr Sunak’s five priorities – including halving inflation, cutting debt, and stopping small boats – are out of reach and uninspiring for voters.
But Mr Sunak told reporters on the plane to the G20 in Delhi: “I think we have achieved a lot over the last eight months, and you can start to see the fruit of that work.
“You saw over the summer inflation is coming down, that’s the best thing we can do to help people with the cost of living, energy bills are coming down considerably from where they peaked, that’s going to help people; the number of small boat crossings, of course higher than any of us would like… but for the first time ever they are down on the year before… the plan is working.”
Sky’s poll tracker shows Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party with an average lead of 18 points in the polls, with three by-elections looming next month, two of them in safe Conservative seats.
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The prime minister says his party’s narrow victory in the Uxbridge by-election earlier this year, despite losing two other seats on the same night, made him “entirely confident of victory”.
“That’s what a general election looks like, it’s an actual choice between two alternatives on a set of issues of substance. That’s why I feel confident, as we won in Uxbridge we will be able to make great progress,” he said.
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Pollster and former Conservative adviser Luke Tryl said in response: “There’s no doubt the Tories outperformed expectations in Uxbridge and you can see why the PM would want to highlight that bright spot after a difficult few months.
“The problem is the factors that helped the Tories hang on in Uxbridge are almost totally unique.
“The harsh electoral reality for the Tories is the other by-election held on the same day where the Tories saw a 24-point swing against them is a far better reflection of where the public mood is today.”
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Last week, reports surfaced that the prime minister’s chief of staff Liam Booth-Smith had told political advisers they should quit their jobs if they didn’t believe the Conservatives could win.
A shake-up of Downing Street staff has been taking place, with the departure of Mr Sunak’s head of communications, and a new strategy director brought in.
The prime minister said: “As you can see we’ve brought some new people in, very high-quality people that are joining the team because they believe that we will win – they are hungry to win, I am hungry to win, and we are fired up to deliver it.”
Mr Sunak refused to commit to offering tax cuts before the next election, saying the “best tax cut I can deliver for the British people is to reduce inflation”.
The Conservatives have had a difficult summer, with their plans to send asylum seekers to live on a floating barge scuppered by the discovery of legionella and crumbling concrete closing schools.
Mr Sunak conceded the timing of the RAAC concrete crisis had been “frustrating” but said ministers were right to act as quickly when it came to light.
Politics
What is the loophole that allowed a family in Gaza permission to come to UK on a Ukraine resettlement scheme?
A “loophole” that allowed a Palestinian family to be granted the right to come to the UK under a Ukrainian resettlement scheme was the subject of a lot of debate in the House of Commons today.
Both the prime minister and leader of the opposition criticised a decision by a judge to allow the family of six the right to enter the UK.
Sir Keir pledged to close the “loophole” after he was asked about it by Kemi Badenoch – but could not elaborate on what it was.
Sky News has read through the judgment given by Judge Hugo Norton-Taylor to understand what happened.
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Why did the family apply?
The family of six, a husband and wife and their children aged 18, 17, eight and seven, lived in Gaza and their homes were destroyed after the 7 October attacks and subsequent conflict.
They ended up living in a humanitarian zone and then a refugee camp.
In January 2024, the family applied to come to the UK via the Ukraine Family Scheme form, in a bid to join one of the parent’s brothers, who is a British citizen and has lived in the UK since 2007.
While they acknowledged they were not eligible for the Ukraine scheme, the family chose to apply in an attempt to use the Home Office‘s policy on “applications for entry clearance outside the rules”.
The Home Office rejected the request, saying they were not satisfied there were “compelling, compassionate circumstances” to justify a request outside the rules.
They also noted the lack of a resettlement scheme for Palestinians.
Read more:
Judge ‘wrong’ to let Gaza family settle in UK
Palestinian family allowed to settle in UK
The appeals
Despite the Home Office saying there were no grounds to appeal, the family launched one against the decision on human rights grounds.
A judge then ruled that the initial rejection constituted a rejection of human rights, and so allowed an appeal.
Part of this appeal was under Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to a family life between the man living in Britain and his family in Gaza.
This appeal was rejected, with a lack of a Palestinian resettlement scheme noted as a reason.
An appeal was launched at a higher tribunal – and one of the arguments was that the case should be considered on its own merits and not allow the lack of a Palestinian resettlement scheme to outweigh other arguments.
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The loophole
It is here that the “loophole” seems to have appeared.
At this point. Judge Norton-Taylor heard the case and allowed the appeal.
In his judgment, he stated that it was “wrong to have taken the absence of a resettlement scheme into account at all”.
The judge added that there was “no evidence” he had seen that the Home Office had made a deliberate decision not to implement a Palestinian resettlement scheme.
He also noted that the lack of immigration rules on a topic should not count against someone.
In layman’s terms, the argument seems to be that just because a scheme to resettle people does not exist it does not mean they are banned from coming to the UK via humanitarian routes.
The judgment said the absence of a “resettlement scheme was irrelevant” to their decision.
What next?
Judge Norton-Taylor went on to back the claim from the family in Gaza based on the ECHR and the right to a family life between them and their relative in Britain.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Ukraine Family scheme was clearly set out for Ukrainians. We have been clear that we do not agree with this judgment and we twice vigorously contested this case.
“As the prime minister made clear, article 8, the right to a family life, should be interpreted much more narrowly. It is for the government and Parliament to decide who should be covered by the UK’s safe and legal routes.
“We are pursuing all legal avenues to address the legal loophole which has been exploited in this case. The home secretary is urgently reviewing this case to ensure the correct processes are always followed and existing laws correctly interpreted.”
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They added that there was no evidence to support the argument and that data from the government shows a “very small” number of Gazans have been allowed to enter the UK – equal to roughly 150.
Sir Keir said he was planning to close the loophole, but it is not clear what this will entail.
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