Sunak refuses to promise to 'stop the boat' for next election

Rishi Sunak made his comments while visiting a kindergarten in Yorkshire on Monday. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA

The small boat problem cannot be solved «overnight,» Rishi Sunak said on Monday, as he did not promise to stop migrants from crossing the border by the next general election.

The Prime Minister declined to give a time frame for his promise to stop the Channel Boats. Last week, the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats led by Mr Sunak passed the 25,000 mark. In total, more than 100,000 people have arrived since 2018.

The number of people who crossed the English Channel on Monday should have been a potential daily record this year. The previous record was 756 on August 10.

Having unveiled his five priorities in office in January, the prime minister promised to pass a law on small boats this year, and that has already been achieved.

But the initiative was expressed in government messages. to the broader phrase «stop the boats», which leads to questions about when he hopes to achieve this goal.

1008 The number of small boats arriving has increased after Sunak's promise. be able to do it by the next election, Mr. Sunak told broadcasters: «One of my top five priorities is to stop the boats.»

“The current system is unsustainable and completely unfair, but especially unfair to UK taxpayers who shell out millions of pounds to accommodate illegal migrants in hotels and local communities.

“This is wrong. We must put an end to this, and we are working on it. This is not an easy problem. I never said that we could solve this problem overnight — it will take time and we have to attack it in many different ways.

“But I am glad that the number of illegal migrants crossing the border has decreased this year for the first time in several years. This shows that our plans are working, but of course there is still a lot to be done and people should know that I am determined to take on this problem.”

When asked if this would be done before the next election, he said: “I want it to be done as soon as possible, but I also want to be honest with people that this is a complex problem, there is no one easy solution and that it cannot be solved in one night. I wouldn't be frank with people if I said it was possible.”

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The next general election is due next year. Insider Number 10 indicated that this would happen in the fall, with Mr Sunak able to tell the time.

The Prime Minister also defended plans to host migrants at RAF Lincolnshire, from where WWII began the War Dambusters raid.

Responding to a question about the risk of moving asylum seekers to RAF Scampton for a multi-million dollar investment, he said: “Of course, the Home Office and other authorities are in dialogue with all local partners to work on all unresolved problems and questions. But more importantly, we must stop the boats.”

According to official government figures, a total of 17,956 people made the crossing in 377 boats this year. Arrival on Monday has not yet been confirmed. In August, 3,224 migrants were intercepted in 60 boats. About 467 people made the crossing this weekend. 130 on Saturday and 337 on Sunday.