CANDIDATES FOR BRITISH PM PROMISE TO GET TOUGH ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Sun 24 July 2022:

Britain’s two leading candidates to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister pledged on Sunday to prioritize combating illegal immigration, with both supporting the government’s policy of sending migrants to Rwanda.

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss are vying to be Britain’s next prime minister after a revolt against Johnson’s scandal-plagued administration forced the prime minister to resign.

So far, the two candidates have disagreed on the timing of any tax cuts at a time when Britain is dealing with rising inflation, sluggish growth, and an increasing number of strikes.

Sunak on Saturday described himself as “the underdog” after Truss topped opinion polls among the Conservative Party members who will appoint their next leader, and Britain’s prime minister, with the result due on September 5.

On Sunday, both candidates set out their plans to press ahead with the government’s policy of sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, though the first deportation flight was blocked last month by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Truss, who is tipped as favourite to win the leadership contest, said she would look to pursue more “third country processing partnerships like Rwanda”, would increase the border force by 20% and strengthen Britain’s Bill of Rights.

“As prime minister, I am determined to see the Rwanda policy through to full implementation as well as exploring other countries where we can work on similar partnerships,” Truss said in a statement.

“I’ll make sure we have the right levels of force and protection at our borders. I will not cower to the ECHR and its continued efforts to try and control immigration policy.”

Sunak, who won the backing of most Conservative lawmakers in earlier leadership votes, said he would treat illegal immigration as “one of five major emergency responses” he will tackle in his first 100 days as prime minister.

“I’ll take a hard-headed targets approach, with incentives for people who meet them and penalties for those who don’t,” he wrote in The Sun newspaper.

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