Has Sunak created ‘Stop the Boats’ Policy to Win next Election?

When the government acknowledged that his proposed law may not adhere to human rights rules, Rishi Sunak argued that it is “tough but fair” and will ban small boats from entering British ports.

But is he using the anti-immigration slogan of ‘Stop the Boats’ to win the next General Election?

According to Rishi Sunak, the existing system that is being exploited is “unfair on the British people” hence a crackdown on tiny boats crossing the Channel is necessary.

In a statement, he said: “This will always be a compassionate and generous country… but the current situation is neither moral nor sustainable, it cannot go on. It is completely unfair on the British people.”

In this instance, the usage of phrases associated with nationality may allude to undercover ‘Brexit’ propaganda being spread by the Tory government.

Could winning over pro-Brexit voters enable Rishi Sunak to achieve a democratic victory given the popularity of Boris Johnson’s ‘Get Brexit Done’ campaign and its landslide victory in the 2019 General Election?

The new law has placed the Conservative Party on a possible collision course with the House of Lords, the judiciary, humanitarian organisations and the Labour Party in a planned move that some experts say may be setting up the issue as one that defines the next general election.

Concerning his intentions to arrest and deport all migrants who enter the UK on small boats, Rishi Sunak has stated he is “up for the fight” with judges in Europe.

However, some think he is waiting for a confrontation with the Labour Party.

Analysts claim that the underlying goal of the measure is to “draw a line between the Conservatives and Labour on immigration” which is what the Prime Minister hopes will happen.

Once a division is established, it will drastically reduce Labour’s recent surge in support and aid Mr Sunak in ensuring that the Tories remain in power.

The Labour party has stated that they oppose MrSunak’s most recent immigration measure.

So, after many seasons of unclarity from Keir Starmer’s Labour government on differentiating between Conservative policy and priorities and fighting against them, Labour has announced its opposition.

However, the migrant legislation may still be debatable after a legal struggle by the time the next election comes around in 2024.

The UN Refugee Agency expressed its “profound concern” over the government’s intentions, which it claimed would “amount to an asylum ban.”

Mr Sunak said: “We have tried it every other way, and it hasn’t worked.”

After Suella Braverman presented new laws that would allow migrants who arrive in the UK on small boats to be arrested, deported and prohibited from coming ever again, the PM said removals could happen “within weeks”.

He said: “We will detain those who come here illegally and then remove them in weeks, either to their own country if it is safe to do so or to a safe third country like Rwanda.”

When asked what went wrong with previous policies and why this one is different, Mr Sunak responded:

“This is not about dwelling on the past because the situation has just got far worse.

“In the last two years, the number of people crossing the Channel illegally has more than quadrupled. That is the scale of what is happening.

“It’s not just us, this is happening across Europe… that’s because globally this is a challenge.”

In response to ongoing criticism of his proposals to imprison and deport those coming on tiny boats, Rishi Sunak has announced that Britain will contribute to funding a detention facility in northern France.

This will come as part of a £500 million programme to stop migrants from trying to cross the Channel.

Following their meeting in Paris, Emmanuel Macron and Mr Sunak announced that they decided to jointly finance more French border patrols, including 500 more personnel and new drones.

Despite his ambitions, Mr Sunak’s promise to deal with immigration policy in Britain may be interpreted as slightly overambitious.