21 August 2023 , 12:58
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Under-fire Rishi Sunak refused to commit to stopping small boat crossings by the next election - despite saying it's one of his priorities.
The PM has repeatedly pledged to stop the boats - appearing several times at a podium bearing the ambitious slogan - but now doesn't know when it can be done. He said it cannot be solved "overnight" as it is a "complex" problem.
Mr Sunak repeatedly swerved questions on whether the public can expect him to deliver on his promise before the country next goes to the polls. Asked whether crossings will be halted in that time he floundered that the Government is "working on it".
Ministers are desperately trying to tackle a massive asylum backlog, which stood at over 130,000 earlier this year. Home Office figures show 337 people arrived by small boat on Sunday.
The Prime Minister is under pressure to tackle the small boats crisis (AFP via Getty Images)Quizzed on whether crossings could be stopped by the next election, Mr Sunak rambled: "One of my five priorities is to stop the boats, the current system is both unsustainable and is completely unfair, but particularly unfair on British taxpayers who are forking out millions of pounds to house illegal migrants in hotels and local communities.
Out of touch Rishi Sunak doesn't regularly read papers or online news sites
"That's not right. We've got to put a stop to that. And we're working on it. It's not an easy problem to fix. I never said we would be able to solve it overnight, it will take time and we have to attack it from lots of different ways."
He said he was "pleased" that the number crossing the Channel in small boats had dropped this year. He said: "That shows that our plans are working but of course there's still more to do and people should know I am determined to grip this problem and that's why one of my five priorities is to stop the boats."
Pressed again on whether it will be done by 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 it is a complex problem, there is not one simple solution and that it can't be solved overnight and I wouldn't be being straight with people if I said that was possible."
The Government has come in for intense criticism over its handling of the asylum system, especially following its bungled 'stop the small boats' week while Mr Sunak was on holiday in the US.
More than 16,000 people have made the dangerous journey since the start of the year, while Home Office figures showed the number since 2018 has passed 100,000. It's the cause of much angst within the Tory party, with bigmouth Lee Anderson sparking fury by claiming “f*** off back to France”, before later admitting the Government had “failed” to tackle illegal immigration.
To make matters worse a £400,000 Home Office drone used to monitor boats in the Channel crashed into the sea. And ministers were forced to drop a daft idea to send migrants 4,000 miles away to Ascension Island just hours after it was announced.
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