United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refused to remain committed to the pledge made by Boris Johnson of bringing annual net migration numbers below 250,000 till the next elections, as he argued that handling illegal migration is “undoubtedly the country’s priority”.
The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto committed to making sure “overall numbers come down”. At the time, the country’s net migration remained at 226,000, which was seen as an effective target to meet during this parliament.
While interacting with journalists on his way to the G7 summit in Japan, PM Sunak accepted that he had “inherited some numbers”, but he thrice refused to explicitly recommit to cutting down legal immigration in the country to that level.
“I’ve said I do want to bring legal migration down. I think illegal migration is undoubtedly the country’s priority, and you can see all the work I’m putting into that. But on legal migration as well, we are committed to bringing those numbers down,” Sunak said.
Sunak focuses on curbing illegal small boat crossings
Speaking about the meeting he had conducted in Iceland earlier this week, Sunak stated that talks with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had resulted in “a big step forward” in his efforts to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.
“That is of practical value to us in stopping illegal migration – sharing intelligence, operational co-operation will make a difference to our ability to stop the boats, tackle organised crime upstream. That’s a very tangible result of the engagement and diplomacy we conducted,” Sunak said.
Explaining his unwillingness to place a hard target on legal migration levels, PM Sunak said, “The key thing for people is to know [when it comes to legal migration] is why people are here, the circumstances and the terms on which they are here, making sure they contribute, to public services like the NHS for example. Those are all now part of our migration system and they weren’t before.”
WATCH | PM Rishi Sunak visits Japanese Naval Base ahead of G7 Summit
According to media reports, Sunak’s focus on curbing illegal small boat crossings and not on setting a specific target for reducing the number of illegal migrants reflects the prime minister’s pragmatism.
“His motto is deliver on promises and don’t promise what you can’t deliver,” stated one government official.
However, the recent remarks made by the prime minister are likely to stoke tensions in the cabinet where divisions can be seen appearing between those who want to prioritise cutting down overall numbers and those who argue that such measure can limit the country’s economic growth.
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