As part of their campaigns to succeed David Cameron as the next Tory leader and prime minister, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have pledged to tighten restrictions on immigration to the UK.
Mr. Sunak promised to limit the number of refugees and tighten the criteria for who is eligible for asylum. Ms. Truss promised to expand the UK's Rwanda asylum program and hire more Border Force personnel. So far this year, more than 14,000 migrants have traveled to the UK on small boats across the Channel. In an effort to stop the crossings, the government declared in April that it would send some asylum seekers who were thought to have entered the UK illegally to Rwanda in order to seek asylum there.
Despite numerous legal issues, no asylum seekers have yet been sent to the east African nation. If the plan is found to be illegal at an upcoming hearing, the UK could lose the £120 million it has already given to Rwanda. Both candidates for the presidency pledged to look into agreements of this nature with other nations.
The Rwanda policy was the right course of action, according to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who told the Mail on Sunday that she was committed to "seeing it through to full implementation."
Additionally, Ms. Truss stated that she would increase the Border Force's workforce from 9,000 to 10,800 if elected leader of the Tory Party and prime minister.
In addition, she pledged to strengthen the UK bill of rights, saying, "I'm determined to end the horrifying people trafficking we're seeing." Mr. Sunak, a former chancellor, also promised to do "whatever it takes" to ensure the success of the Rwanda program and criticized the UK's immigration policy as "broken" and "chaotic."
According to his plans, the UK would evaluate aid, trade agreements, and visa options based on a country's willingness to assist in the repatriation of unsuccessful asylum seekers and criminals. In addition, he pledged to give Parliament control over the number of immigrants who enter the UK by setting an annual cap on the number of refugees accepted, though this could be altered in an emergency.
Additionally, he declared that he would implement "enhanced powers" to detain, tag, and oversee those who enter the UK illegally.
The system is currently in disarray, he claimed, with law-abiding citizens witnessing boats full of unauthorized immigrants leaving the safe nation of France and our sailors and coastguards appearing helpless to stop them.
However, the pair's proposals were criticized by the opposition home secretary, Yvette Cooper, who claimed that the Rwanda plan was a waste of taxpayer money. She uttered: "Twelve years have passed since the Conservatives took office. It is incomprehensible that they would assert that they are the ones who can make things right when they have both repeatedly failed."
47 people were informed last month that a flight to Rwanda was scheduled for June 14. But the flight was cancelled following a number of legal challenges. No additional flights have been planned as of yet. The effectiveness of the plan was questioned earlier this week by a Commons select committee, which claimed there was "no clear evidence" that it would prevent dangerous Channel crossings.
The two candidates argued on Saturday about their tax strategies.
Mr. Sunak's criticism that it would be improper to increase government borrowing in order to finance tax cuts was rejected by Ms. Truss as a significant policy difference between the candidates.
She is committing to £30 billion in immediate tax cuts, arguing that they will spur growth, but Mr. Sunak has warned that these cuts could exacerbate inflation, which is already at an all-time high. Voting papers are expected to start reaching Conservative Party members this week, and the winner will be declared on September 5.
In order to advance to the final run-off against Ms Truss, Mr. Sunak, who resigned as part of the government coup against Boris Johnson, received the most votes from MPs. But current polls indicate that party members, who elect the leader, favor the foreign secretary as a candidate. Many of the approximately 160,000 Tory members are expected to cast ballots in the upcoming weeks. The two candidates will face off in a live BBC TV debate on Monday, followed by one hosted by The Sun and TalkTV on Tuesday. Hustings will take place throughout July and August.