Sunak faces revolt over Rwanda plan
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a rebellion from restive lawmakers over his signature immigration policy, while fending off tough questions Monday about his judgment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The twin pressures add up to one of the toughest weeks of Sunak's 13 months in office, with both his present authority and past record at stake.
Legislation intended to salvage Sunak's blocked plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda faces a vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday. While disparate groups of Conservative lawmakers met in Parliament to pick holes in the bill, Sunak was undergoing a grilling at the U.K.'s pandemic inquiry, where he denied taking risks with public health.
Sunak was Treasury chief to Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the pandemic hit, and backed a discount initiative that encouraged people to go back to restaurants in August 2020 after months of lockdown.
The government's scientific advisers have told the judge-led inquiry that they weren't informed in advance about the “Eat Out to Help Out” program, which scientists have linked to a rise in infections. One senior government science adviser referred to Sunak in a message to colleagues at the time as “Dr. Death.”
Sunak denied there had been “a clash between public health and economics” when it came to confronting the pandemic, which authorities said left more than 230,000 people dead in the U.K.
He said that he saw his role “as making sure the prime minister had the best possible advice, information and analysis relating to the economic impact” of potential measures. He stressed that Johnson, as prime minister at the time, was “the ultimate and sole decisionmaker.”
At the inquiry last week, Johnson rejected suggestions he'd wanted to let the virus “rip” through society.
Sunak denied seeing a warning from government scientific advisers in late June 2020 about the risks of opening up society. He defended his decision not to consult scientists about the “Eat Out to Help Out” plan, saying the government “had already made the collective decision to reopen indoor hospitality.” He said the policy had helped save the livelihoods of low-paid bar and restaurant workers.
Sunak began his testimony by apologizing to everyone who suffered during the pandemic and said it was important to “learn the lessons.”
Sunak also is battling to save the Rwanda plan, a key part of his pledge to stop unauthorized migrants from trying to reach England from France in small boats. More than 29,000 people have done so this year.
The plan has already cost the government 240 million pounds in payments to Rwanda, which agreed in 2022 to process and settle hundreds of asylum-seekers a year from the U.K. But no one has yet been sent to the country, and last month the U.K. Supreme Court ruled the plan illegal, saying Rwanda isn't a safe destination for refugees.