Rwanda will ‘break’ gangs... PM confident he can stop small boats
RISHI Sunak’s remains confident he can “stop the boats” despite record arrivals so far this year.
Another 800 illegal migrants landed over the Easter weekend, after making the dangerous Channel crossing.
It takes the total number so far this year to 5,435 – a 43% increase compared with the same time last year.
But Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister was still certain he could meet his pledge to end the crossings – with his scheme to send some migrants to Rwanda a key part.
His spokeswoman said the 2024 increase was due to number of things. These include criminal gangs changing tactics, the weather and French police “facing increasing violence and disruption” on the beaches.
She added: “We need to keep stepping up our efforts and adapting to the gangs who continually adapt their own tactics.
“But that’s why, alongside continuing that work, we have to fundamentally break the business model, and that’s what the Rwanda partnership will do.”
Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Over the Christmas break, they were quick to claim credit for the low number of crossings, so where are the Home Secretary and Prime Minister now, when we’ve seen almost 800 people arrive in small boats over the bank holiday weekend?
“This is complete chaos. It’s time the Tories got a grip and adopted Labour’s plan of going after the criminal smuggling gangs, with a new cross-border police unit, and set up a new returns and enforcement unit to remove those who have no right to be here.”
Before the weekend, this year had already seen a record high in the number of people making the journey.
The rise follows a significant drop of a third last year.
Mr Sunak is under intense pressure to turn around the Conservatives’ fortunes, with illegal migration one of the key areas of voter concern.
The PM spent yesterday in the North East on a series of visits. He dismissed calls to set a date for the election but suggested again that it would be in the autumn.
He also insisted the economy had
turned a corner and urged voters to stick with the plan.
He told ITV Tyne Tees: “I’ve said consistently that my working assumption is that we’ll have a general election in the second half of the year.
“Nothing’s changed from that. But the key is the choice at that election.
Now, after a tough couple of years for the country with Covid and the war in Ukraine and energy bills, I really feel now that we have turned a corner and we’re pointing in the right direction. That is important
because now you can see that most importantly with the economy – inflation down from 11% to 3.4%, energy bills falling by hundreds of pounds, wages rising.
“This year tax is being cut by £900 for the average worker, as well as the state pension going up by £900.”
He insisted Labour was unable to say what it would do if it won power, saying: “If we stick to [our] plan, I can deliver the peace of mind that there’s a brighter future ahead and a renewed sense of pride in our country. Ultimately, elections are a choice, and the alternative is the Labour Party.
“And they can’t tell you – you’ve mentioned Keir Starmer, he can’t tell you what he’s going to do differently because he doesn’t have a plan and you don’t get any change without a plan.We’ve got a plan and it’s working. And that’s what I’m sticking to.”
Mr Sunak dismissed Labour’s claims that levelling up was “strangled at birth” through a lack of funding during his time in the Treasury. He said: “After years of Labour neglect, people wherever I am out and about across Teesside, feel an enormous sense of optimism about the future as a result of those investments and change.”
Meanwhile grassroots website Conservative Post called on party members to help deselect 10 MPs it says are not Tory enough.
Among those identified are centrists Caroline Nokes, Alicia Kearns and Tobias Elwood.
The website tells party members that only 10% of an association needs to send in a letter of noconfidence in order to trigger the deselection process.
Muscles
It declares: “For too long there have been concerns the Conservative Party’s candidates department have been weeding out actual centreright conservatives and pushing liberal centrists.
“It’s time to start flexing our muscles and steering our party back to proper conservatism.
“We want MPs who promote proper conservative values: free speech, free markets, free people, low taxes, small government, Brexit and Britain! Poll after poll show the country is also calling out for this.”