The Prime Minister has outlined his set of tough immigration rules in a TV interview tonight (Thursday). Rishi Sunak has insisted that the policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda will go ahead.
The Rwanda plan is facing a challenge in the Court of Appeal. The Prime Minister said the proposed project would mean asylum claims will be sped up to a “matter of days or weeks” and “not months or years”.
In the “vast majority of cases”, he added, they would be sent to “an alternative safe country, be that where you have come from, if it’s safe, like Albania, or, indeed, Rwanda”.
In an interview with presenter Piers Morgan for TalkTV, Mr Sunak was robust in his defence of the much-criticised plans. Pressed if the policy will ever happen, Mr Sunak responded: “Yes.”
During the interview, he also asked people to 'have hope', claiming he could quickly turn around the nation’s fortunes. It came after the Bank of England predicted a recession will be shorter and shallower than expected.
The Bank hiked the base interest rate from 3.5% to 4% in an attempt to help bring double-digit inflation under control. A day earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted the UK economy will be the only major economy – including sanction-hit Russia – to plunge into recession this year.
Mr Sunak told the interviewer he could deliver the five priorities he has set for the nation.
“Grow the economy, yes, I do believe over the course of this year we’ll get the economy growing again,” the Prime Minister said.
“Reduce debt, We’ve already made some difficult decisions to ensure that that happens but we’ve got to stick to the path.”
Asked what his mantra or message to the public is, Mr Sunak said: “It’s ‘have hope’. Have hope because I can make it better, and I will make it better.
“That’s what I’m working day and night to do.”
