Rishi Sunak is facing “open revolt” in the Conservative party on immigration and has even lost control of his own ministers, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Amid fresh criticism from increasing frustrated Tory MPs, the Labour leader launched a scathing attack on Mr Sunak’s “reverse Midas touch” when it came to tacking rising legal migration.
“This is a government not just in turmoil, in open revolt,” Sir Keir said at PMQs – highlighting immigration minister Robert Jenrick’s claims that he wished tougher reforms were brought in last year.
The Labour leader also rasied sacked home secretary Suella Braverman’s furious attacks on the PM and her successor James Cleverly’s struggles to convince the Tory right he is on board with the Rwanda deportation plan.
“The immigration minister thinks the prime minister is failing because apparently nobody will listen to his secret plan, the former home secretary thinks he is failing because of his ‘magical thinking’, the current home secretary thinks he is failing,” said Sir Keir.
“The prime minister seems to be the only person on the Tory benches without his own personal immigration plan. Clearly his own side don’t have any faith in him – why should the public?”
Responding, Mr Sunak said it was “really a bit rich to hear about this from someone who described all immigration law as racist, who literally said it was a mistake to control immigration … We have taken steps and we will take further steps”.
As he concluded by claiming Sir Keir could keep trying to “talk tough”, ironically Tory leader’s microphone was cut off before he could finish saying “Britain isn’t listening”.
Mr Sunak faced a tough time from his own increasingly impatient MPs on a long-awaited reform plans after net arrivals hit a record high of 745,000 and the Supreme Court ruled against the Rwanda plan.
Senior right-wing Tory John Hayes said Mr Sunak must bring forward “urgent measures” to deal with record legal migration. He also demanded that a promised emergency Rwanda bill should be in the “exact form” recommended by Mr Jenrick.
Starmer claims PM ‘only person on Tory benches without personal immigration plan’— (UK Parliament /AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Hayes – the Common Sense Group leader, who has called Mr Jenrick a “true believer” – said the net migration figures were a “catastrophe” for everyone apart from “guilt-riven bourgeois liberals”.
In a sign of growing Tory impatience with Mr Sunak, right-winger Simon Clarke tweeted: “We either set out a credible plan on legal immigration, and a really robust emergency bill on Rwanda, or we face more PMQs like that one.”
It comes as cabinet minister Steve Barclay admitted the government needed to “go further, faster” to bring down net migration. The former health secretary, now environment secretary, confirmed restrictions on social care workers’ relatives was being considered.
“One of the areas where I know the home secretary will want to look is dependants of those coming in to the care sector,” he told Times Radio. “So, there are a range of options.”
According to reports, Mr Jenrick has produced a hardline five-point plan designed to reduce net migration which includes scrapping the shortage occupations list.
He also understood to be pressing for a ban on foreign social care workers bringing in any dependents, and a cap on the total number of NHS and social care visas. But No 10 is said to be uncertain whether to agree to Mr Jenrick’s plan to ditch the shortage occupation list.
Mr Jenrick told MPs on Tuesday that his own immigration plan “would have been brought to the House before last Christmas if I could have done”.
Asked if the outspoken immigration minister was breaking collective responsibility in cabinet, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “No,” before telling reporters the pair were still “working closely” together.
No denied rift between Rishi Sunak and immigration minister Robert Jenrick— (PA)
Meanwhile, senior Conservative Lee Anderson lambasted Home Office chiefs for their “staggering” failure to provide figures for the faltering asylum system.
The deputy Tory chair said “the big boss hasn’t got a clue” during an awkward grilling of the department’s permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft in parliament.
Sir Matthew and his Home Office deputy made the bombshell admission that they simply do not know what has happened to 17,000 asylum seekers whose claims have been withdrawn.
Mr Anderson also demanded figures on many rejected asylum seekers had been deported in the past three years – excluding criminals and Albanians.
Sir Matthew and his deputy looked puzzled, before his deputy Simon Ridley said: “I don’t think we have [those numbers].”
Mr Anderson fumed: “I’m sorry … but I find it absolutely staggering that the big boss hasn’t got a clue – not just on this question, but on nearly every other question we’ve asked today.”
