Target? What target?
PM backpedals over pledge to slash migration
RISHI Sunak last night backed away from the Tories’ election pledge to reduce net migration.
As he flew to Japan for talks with G7 world leaders, the PM was asked whether he still stood by his vow that “overall numbers will come down”.
At the time of the 2019 poll, net migration stood at just over 250,000.
Figures due next week are set to show the figure hit 700,000 last year.
Last week, Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the Government of losing control of the issue.
Mr Sunak yesterday could only say that he wanted to bring down legal migration and declined to be drawn on whether he is committed to lowering it from 2019 levels.
The Tory PM also appeared to blame predecessors in No10, saying: “I’ve inherited some numbers.”
He added: “I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the country’s priority.”
More than 6,000 migrants on boats have crossed the Channel so far this year.
Downing Street said that Britain and Brussels have agreed to do more to tackle illegal migration. The PM held talks with EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen at a Council of Europe meeting in Iceland.
They underlined a “shared interest” in beating cross-border crime and people trafficking.
Mr Sunak also called for reforms to European Court of Human Rights measures, which have hampered his plan to send migrants to Rwanda.
He is also struggling to deliver on his pledges to bring down inflation, and last week his own MPs hit out as No10 announced a U-turn over his plans to shred thousands of EU laws.
Yesterday the PM also claimed he is a “low tax Conservative”, despite the public facing the highest tax burden since the Second World War.
Meanwhile, the PM’s super-rich wife Akshata Murty will make her debut on the world stage today as she joins him in Tokyo.
Mr Sunak is due to sign a historic pact with Japan, aiming to boost defence co-operation, before visiting Hiroshima tomorrow for G7 talks.