Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O’Flynn

Sunak’s migrant muddle exposes his flaws

Rishi Sunak (Credit: Getty images)

Why do very smart people so often do very stupid things? Possibly it is because they cannot see how their actions look to those not similarly bestowed with such cerebral gifts.

Yet when you are an elected politician, it is the average Joes who ultimately get to decide your fate. The latest case in point is Rishi Sunak’s decision to grant an effective amnesty to up to 54,000 migrants who entered the UK illegally before March 2023. 

Yet another promise of jam tomorrow is meant to sweeten a meal of mud pie today. That simply won’t work

Unlawful arrivals after that date will in theory soon be subject to a standard removals regime once Sunak’s Illegal Migration Bill is on the statue book and the Rwanda scheme is up and running. But those illegal entrants who were already in the asylum queue between June 2022 and March 2023 are going to be allowed to proceed with their claims and if successful will be able to stay in the UK for five years, after which they can apply to settle permanently. 

This unpicks a key provision of Priti Patel’s 2022 Nationality and Borders Act which stipulated that such migrants could only remain for 30 months and yet wouldn’t be able to apply for permanent settled status for 10 years. The government, therefore, will have passed a tough provision designed to deter illegal Channel migrants and then ditched it within a year, apparently in order to spare itself political embarrassment about the size of the asylum backlog.

Does Sunak really not see the problem with this? If the government has been seen to lack the political will to enforce previous tough measures then why would anyone believe it will have the political will to enforce a future tough measures, such as are contained in Sunak’s current legislation?

This loss of nerve could act as a fresh pull factor for potential new waves of Channel migrants willing to take a punt on the continued pusillanimous nature of the Tory party.

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