We are all familiar with the sunk cost fallacy. Whether it be sticking with a job we hate, a partner we no longer love or an investment haemorrhaging cash, we keep going because we've already put in so much time, effort or money. Sunk costs have this terrible power to make proceeding feel like the most rational choice, even when the benefits no longer outweigh the costs.
For Rishi Sunak, his particular open wound is the Rwanda scheme, in which asylum seekers would be sent to the East African nation rather than have their applications processed in the UK. It wasn't his idea. It wasn't even Suella Braverman's idea. The policy was first announced by Boris Johnson in April 2022.
