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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has admitted he does not have a “precise” target date for stopping migrant crossings, in a grilling by senior MPs.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The promise to “stop the boats” was one of the five priorities for 2023 that Mr Sunak set out at the start of the year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While Channel crossings have fallen by a third since 2022, more than 29,437 people have made the journey this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The PM insisted “progress” had been made, and he was sure his Rwanda asylum plan would curb illegal migration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Sunak faced multiple questions on migration and the government’s scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda during his routine questioning by MPs at the Liaison Committee in Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In a major speech in January, Mr Sunak said stopping the boats was one of his five “immediate priorities” in 2023, telling the public “we will either have achieved them or not”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But Mr Sunak has never qualified exactly when he would stop small boat crossings entirely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Instead, he said he would pass new laws to ensure people who arrive in the UK illegally were “detained and swiftly removed”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n- Rishi Sunak: Key pledge targets missed so far<\/li>\n
- How is the UK stopping Channel crossings?<\/li>\n
- Rishi Sunak sees off Tory rebellion in Rwanda bill vote<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In one testy exchange with Dame Diana Johnson, who chairs the Home Affairs Select Committee, Mr Sunak was asked directly when he thought he would meet this target.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“There isn’t a firm date on this because I’ve always been clear from the beginning,” Mr Sunak said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He added: “We will keep going until we do [stop the boats]. This isn’t one of these things when there’s a precise date estimate on it, this is something where before I took this job they had only ever gone up, now they’re down by a third.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dame Diana also asked Mr Sunak about the Rwanda policy, which is part of the government’s plan to deter migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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When the Labour MP suggested no airline was “willing to contract with government to remove people to Rwanda because of reputational damage”, Mr Sunak refused to comment on what he called “commercial conversations that are necessarily private”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But Mr Sunak said he was “highly confident” the government would be able to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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To that end, the government is attempting to pass legislation to declare in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country, with a view to stopping flights being grounded by legal challenges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n