Robert Jenrick denies he’s considering Tory leadership bid

Robert Jenrick, who resigned as immigration minister last week over the Government’s approach to the Rwanda policy, has denied he is considering a leadership bid amid questions over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s future.

There has been growing speculation that Mr Sunak’s position could be under threat if the Rwanda policy fails, and some have seen Mr Jenrick’s dramatic resignation as a step towards his running to be the next party leader.

Asked on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme whether he planned to run in future, he said: “I’m not interested in that…. I’m solely interested in this policy.

“I want the Conservative Party to win the next general election. I want it to make good on its manifesto commitments. I think there’s a way to do that.”

But he warned that the Tories “will face the red-hot fury of the public” if they do not tackle the issue of illegal migration, and claimed that “mass, uncontrolled migration” was not compatible with community cohesion across the UK.

“I think there are communities in our country where people are living parallel lives,” he added.

“It’s an obvious observation that a million people coming into our country a year is immensely challenging to successfully integrate.

“I’ve seen that with the [pro-Palestine] marches through London, where I saw some people who simply did not share British values.”

The former immigration minister said Brexit was the “great reform” which gave the government the “levers” to bring down net migration levels and that “we must use them.”

Mr Jenrick confirmed he “won’t be supporting” the emergency Rwanda legislation when it goes to a vote on Tuesday, but did not confirm whether he would vote against it or abstain, and has suggested the Prime Minister is putting his international reputation ahead of British interests.

Asked whether he believed Mr Sunak did not understand the concerns surrounding the Rwanda policy, Mr Jenrick told the BBC that the pair “respectfully disagree on this one issue”.

“I think that a political choice has been made to bring forward a bill that doesn’t do the job,” he continued.

“I will always put the vital national interests of the country and the views and concerns of the British public above contested notions of international law.

“We’re sent to parliament to represent those people, the general public, we’re not sent to parliament to be concerned about our reputation on the gilded international circuit.”

He went on to warn that “anyone that really understands this knows it won’t work” and that, with two previous pieces of legislation having failed to get deportation flights to Rwanda off the ground, it could be “three strikes and you’re out” for his party.

Mr Jenrick claimed ensuring the success of plans to deport asylum seekers who arrive by irregular means to Rwanda was “an absolutely totemic one to the future of the Conservative Party.

“I don’t believe this bill will work I think it will lead to a range of legal claims which will bog down our scheme and will not create the deterrent that [the Prime Minister] and I set out to achieve,” he said.

“The test for this is not can you get one or two symbolic flights off before the next election with a handful of illegal migrants on them, it’s can you create a strong deterrent that is sustainable and stops the boats and protects the borders of this country for years to come.

“That’s what I want to achieve and afraid this bill is not it.”