It means Sunak is likely to abandon key promises on immigration in a week when both the prime minister and home secretary have come under fire for dangerous overcrowding at a migration centre. The prime minister’s press secretary said ministers “need to look again” at a series of promises made over the summer during Sunak’s losing battle with Liz Truss for the Tory leadership, but there was no end date for the review. Among some of the policies that have become politically embarrassing for Sunak is a “10-point plan on immigration” that includes issues that have become flashpoints in the past week engulfing his interior minister, Suella Braverman. Highlights from the leadership campaign include:
Ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by delivering thousands of new beds. Setting a target that 80% of claims are resolved within six months of filing. Using cruise ships to house asylum seekers while their claims are processed.
Sunak would face a huge challenge to meet the 80% target, with the latest figures suggesting that only 4% of people who crossed the Channel in small boats in 2021 had made a decision within six months. Whitehall officials have previously warned that detaining people on cruise ships would breach the 1951 refugee convention which prevents “arbitrary detention”. Sunak had first proposed the idea in 2020, when it was rejected for cost reasons. The No 10’s admission comes after a series of policy reversals by Sunak, including an announcement that he would go to the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt next week, days after Downing Street said he did not plan to attend. Other pledges include promises to protect the green belt from planning laws, charging patients for GP appointments if they miss one, reducing the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 16p. by the end of the next parliament and review and repeal all retained EU legislation within 100 days. “We are reviewing all campaign commitments and considering whether it is the right time to advance them,” Sunak’s spokesman said. “We need to take some time to make sure what is deliverable and what is possible, as well as working with stakeholders and with the relevant foreign ministers. “Obviously, these are commitments that were made a few months ago now and the context is somewhat different, obviously, financially. We are not making any commitments at this time one way or the other. We have to look again.” He added that Sunak still stood by the “sentiment” of his campaign pledges, hinting that the promises he made as chancellor could also be revised given the different economic context. The Prime Minister remained committed to the Conservative 2019 manifesto as a whole, she said, but did not elaborate. Earlier in the Commons, Mr Sunak had refused to say whether he would keep his manifesto pledge to triple-lock pensions. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. His spokesman said: “These things that have budgetary implications are things that the chancellor is looking at with the prime minister. Obviously the economic context has changed significantly, not only in the last few months, but also with the pandemic and the global macroeconomic situation and also with the invasion of Putin.” Sunak has already abandoned plans to fine patients £10 for missing GP appointments and to repeal or reform all EU law by the next election, both campaign promises. He has also backed down on fracking after saying in the summer he would support the controversial practice “with local consent” but then rolling back the ban. In another twist, Sunak will attend Cop27 next week after No 10 previously said he was too focused on the domestic economy to attend and banned King Charles from going, days after Boris Johnson announced he would attend. A Labor spokesman said: “I think what we are seeing is a government suffering from its core problem – and that is that decisions are being made for party management purposes, not in the national interest. “Look at why we have Suella Braverman as Home Secretary in the first place. They are there purely because of a deal made during the Tory leadership election. “Whether it’s the decision to go to Cop27, whether it’s policy decisions, whether it’s personnel decisions, you’re going to see a government that’s just trying to get by on party political management rather than the national interest. , and this is not how the country should be run.”
