Labour says Rishi Sunak should admit Rwanda plan doubts after leaks suggest he thought deterrent ‘won’t work’

Published

4 months ago

January 6, 2024

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Labour says Rishi Sunak should be “honest” with the public by publishing documents which appear to show he had doubts about the Rwanda scheme to stop small boats from crossing the Channel.

Documents seen by Sky News suggest the prime minister was sceptical about government plans to send illegal migrants to the African country.

Mr Sunak expressed his doubts while he was chancellor in March 2022, shortly before the Rwanda scheme was first announced by Boris Johnson’s government.

The existence of the Number 10 briefing papers was widely reported on Saturday.

Now the Labour Party is urging Mr Sunak to “come clean”.

Watch Wilfred Frost’s live interview with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show on Sky News from 8.30am on Sunday.

Analysis:
PM facing same old problems after trying to go on offensive

The papers revealed this weekend suggest the now prime minister had particular concerns about the costs of the scheme.

It has since been made public that the government has committed at least £400m to the Rwandan government, despite not a single person being removed to Rwanda.

The papers also appear to show Mr Sunak doubted the effectiveness of his now flagship policy, saying the then chancellor believed the “deterrent won’t work”.

A government source said Mr Sunak has put the Rwanda policy at the heart of his plan for government, and as chancellor, funded the scheme.

The government’s Rwanda Bill will return to the House of Commons this month.

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “The more we hear about the government’s Rwanda scheme, the more obvious it becomes that this is an extortionate con that won’t fix the Tory chaos in our immigration system.

“The home secretary, the former immigration minister and now the prime minister clearly don’t believe the government’s plans will work.

“It’s time the Tory government was honest with the public, and publish both the papers outlining Rishi Sunak’s concerns and the full details of the cost of the scheme.

“In a few weeks’ time, the prime minister will ask his divided and sceptical backbench MPs to vote for a Rwanda scheme he clearly doesn’t believe in and which he refuses to set out the costs for.

“They should stop wasting time on this costly charade and adopt Labour’s plan to go after the criminal smuggling gangs, negotiating new security arrangements with Europe to better protect our borders and set up a new returns unit to ensure those with no right to be in the UK are swiftly removed.”

After the reports about Mr Sunak’s doubts on Saturday, a government source said: “As chancellor, Rishi funded the Rwanda scheme and put it at the heart of his 10-point plan the month after becoming PM.

“Now he is passing the Rwanda Bill following the Supreme Court judgment to get flights off the ground.

“He is the first prime minister ever to oversee a reduction in small boat crossings, which were down by 36% last year.”

Politics

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

Published

3 hours ago

May 19, 2024

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Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris will not stand at next election

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he won’t be standing at the next general election but will keep campaigning for the Conservative Party.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which he posted on X on Saturday night, Mr Heaton-Harris said after 24 years in politics, it had been an “honour and a privilege to serve”.

He thanked the people of Daventry, Mr Sunak and former Tory leaders, including Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, “for putting their trust in me”.

Mr Heaton-Harris, who has been serving as Northern Ireland secretary since September 2022, said: “I started as a campaigner and I’ll be out campaigning for @Conservatives at the next election because we are the only party that has and can deliver for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

He joins an exodus of Tory politicians who have announced they will be leaving Westminster at the next general election.

More than 100 MPs from across the Commons have said they will not be standing.

Those who have announced their intention to leave parliament range from the longest-serving female MP, Labour’s Harriet Harman, to one of those only elected at the last election in 2019, Conservative MP Dehenna Davison.

Of the more than 60 Tory MPs stepping aside, high profile names include former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng.

Back in March, Mrs May, 67, said she too had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency.

The last possible day for a general election is Tuesday 28 January 2025.