Sunak, Cleverly, Jenrick and Cameron all at odds as migration divides Tories
The whole of the Government is united on two immigration policies: “stopping the boats”, i.e. ending the flow of asylum seekers crossing the Channel and entering Britain illegally, and lowering legal migration figures from their current record high.
But they seem to be seriously divided over how they are going to do it.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was once seen as Rishi Sunak’s “man in the Home Office”, sent to moderate the hardline views of Suella Braverman and provide a more centrist voice in the department.
But his experiences of the role have made him much tougher and he now backs a restrictive crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration – allies say he has been shocked by the sheer scale of migration as well as what he sees as the exploitation of the system by people who are coming to the UK for purely economic reasons but being dishonest about it.
It is not yet clear whether Mr Jenrick’s new boss, James Cleverly, agrees with his analysis. Sources close to the new Home Secretary say he is still reviewing the policy options for reducing net migration.
Mr Cleverly has already angered many Conservative MPs by appearing to dismiss the importance of the plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda – earning himself a private rebuke from No 10 bosses who are understood to have advised him to watch his language more carefully.
The Prime Minister himself wants to take the drama out of the controversial policy: he has chosen to emphasise the steps the Government is already taking to cut numbers and reduce dangerous Channel crossings, which are down significantly this year even if they are nowhere near to being “stopped”.
But set against any attempts to limit immigration are those secretaries of state whose areas of responsibility depend on foreign arrivals: these include the Health Secretary, Education Secretary and Environment Secretary, as well as the Science Secretary who wants to show Britain is open to the world’s top talents. Fierce battles are raging in Whitehall about how to get the balance right.
Enter the ultimate wildcard – David Cameron. The Foreign Office has no formal role in migration policy, but in reality the UK cannot control migration without strong diplomacy.
Lord Cameron has played down reports he is adamantly opposed to the idea of leaving the European Court of Human Rights in order to push the Rwanda plan through the courts, but he will be acutely aware of the risks to Britain’s international reputation from being seen to go too far.
