Rishi Sunak, who is battling with Liz Truss to win support from the Tory base in his bid to replace Boris Johnson, has announced plans for an annual cap on the number of refugees the UK accepts.
The former chancellor, who trails Truss by 24%, according to a YouGov poll of Tory members earlier this week, will promise on Sunday to tackle illegal migration and regain control of UK borders if he becomes the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister.
He also reaffirmed that he would do “whatever it takes” to make Rwanda’s controversial asylum program a success.
The promise to be tough on migration comes as rival Truss told the Mail on Sunday that she would expand the Rwandan scheme and increase Border Force personnel from 9,000 to 10,800.
The foreign secretary also said that if she beat the former chancellor when party members vote on September 5, she would present a strengthened British bill of rights to provide a ‘sound legal basis’ to fight. against illegal migration.
Sunak’s main asylum commitment is to give Parliament control over who comes to the UK by creating an annual quota on the number of refugees accepted each year, excluding sudden onset emergencies.
He said: ‘Our immigration system is broken and we need to be honest about it. Whether you think migration should be high or low, we can all agree that it should be legal and controlled.
“Right now the system is chaotic, with law-abiding citizens seeing boats full of illegal immigrants coming from the safe country of France with our sailors and coastguards seemingly powerless to stop them.
“It has to stop and if I am Prime Minister I will stop it.”
Sunak will opt for a narrower definition of those eligible for asylum than that offered by the European Convention on Human Rights, with increased powers to detain, mark and monitor illegal migrants.
The Rwanda scheme remains in legal limbo, with the UK currently set to lose the £120m it paid the East African country if the plan to deport the migrants goes to trial illegal by the courts.
Rwandan officials confirmed this week that they had received the full upfront payment for the agreement signed in April and that the funds were already “committed”, with some of the money spent on preparations for the arrivals.
The first deportation flight – which was due to take off on June 15 – was canceled with the plane on the Salisbury runway after an intervention by the European Court of Human Rights after a series of legal challenges by those on board .
A judicial review of the plan was to be heard on July 19; however, charities such as Care4Calais and Detention Action – which are carrying the case – said the hearing had been adjourned until September.
Last weekend, activists staged protests across the country against the government’s “odious” policy of sending migrants to Rwanda.
