UK general election 2024 campaigns live: Rishi Sunak confirms Rwanda deportation flights will not leave until after 4 July | Politics
Sunak confirms Rwanda deportation flights will not leave until after the election
Q: When you became PM you set out a plan. You had a plan to stop the boats. Are the numbers going up or down?
Sunak says in the last 12 months the numbers are down by a third. This year they are up, mainly because of people arriving from Vietnam.
When he became PM, Albania was responsible for rising numbers. He addressed that, with a deal with Albania.
He says he wants flights to go to Rwanda. And 15 other European countries agree with the approach. Keir Starmer doesn’t, he says.
Q: When will the flights go?
In July.
Q: After the election?
Sunak does not contest that. But he says he has a plan. He is the only leader who will deliver that, he says.
Q: So you are saying you have not done it yet, you are having an early election, but you are asking people to trust you that the flights will take off later?
Sunak says he has done the preparatory work. If he is re-elected, the flights will leave. They won’t under Keir Starmer. He will just offer an amnest to illegal migrants, he claims.
(That is not Labour’s policy.)
Robinson says other EU countries are not proposing the same policy. They are only talking about processing asylum seekers’ claims in third countries.
Sunak says that is not true. He has just returned from Austria, he says. He says the statement from EU countries shows they favour returning illegal migrants to safe third countries.
Key events
Sunak says he spoke in rain yesterday because it's traditional for PMs to make big statements outside No 10
Q: You say you have a plan. Why did you not have a plan for bad weather yesterday? Why did you not have an umbrella?
Sunak says he is not a “fair weather politician”.
And he claims he was honouring a tradition.
I believe very strongly in the traditions of our country. And prime ministers make important statements like that, they do it on the steps of Downing Street, come rain or shine. And I believe in those traditions, and that’s why I did what I did.
And that’s the end of the interview.
Q: Keir Starmer says stop the chaos. He has a point, doesn’t he? Why should the Tories get another term?
Sunak suggests Robinson should not not focus on Liz Truss’s 49 days in office. He says he is happy to talk about the record over 14 years.
Labour had bankrupted the economy, they left a note saying and laughing about the fact that there was no money left.
Since then we’ve created more jobs than. pretty much anywhere in Europe, grown the economy, reformed our school so our kids are the best readers in the western world. we’ve halved crime, we’ve got Brexit done and ensured we’re one of the biggest export economies in the world, we’ve increased defence spending, we’ve continued investing in the NHS we’ve reformed the welfare system, so I’m proud of that record.
Sunak claims Starmer has changed his mind “on almost every major issue I’ve had to debate with him over the last 18 months”.
Q: Are you saying Starmer is a threat to security?
Sunak says security is an issue in the campaign.
Q: You are not answering the question.
Sunak repeats the point about the world being dangerous. So it is right to ask who is most likely to protect people. He says he has decided to increase defence spending by 2.5% of GDP. Sunak says Starmer has not matched that pledge. He says that is the answer to the question.
Robinson says Sunak is failing on NHS waiting lists.
Sunak says they have not fallen by as much as he would like.
Robinson says they have not fallen at all. They are higher than when Sunak took office.
Sunak says they have been falling recently.
Sunak confirms Rwanda deportation flights will not leave until after the election
Q: When you became PM you set out a plan. You had a plan to stop the boats. Are the numbers going up or down?
Sunak says in the last 12 months the numbers are down by a third. This year they are up, mainly because of people arriving from Vietnam.
When he became PM, Albania was responsible for rising numbers. He addressed that, with a deal with Albania.
He says he wants flights to go to Rwanda. And 15 other European countries agree with the approach. Keir Starmer doesn’t, he says.
Q: When will the flights go?
In July.
Q: After the election?
Sunak does not contest that. But he says he has a plan. He is the only leader who will deliver that, he says.
Q: So you are saying you have not done it yet, you are having an early election, but you are asking people to trust you that the flights will take off later?
Sunak says he has done the preparatory work. If he is re-elected, the flights will leave. They won’t under Keir Starmer. He will just offer an amnest to illegal migrants, he claims.
(That is not Labour’s policy.)
Robinson says other EU countries are not proposing the same policy. They are only talking about processing asylum seekers’ claims in third countries.
Sunak says that is not true. He has just returned from Austria, he says. He says the statement from EU countries shows they favour returning illegal migrants to safe third countries.
Q: You say the UK is growing faster than the US. But that is only true if you look at one quarter. If you look at growth over a year, the US is growing more quickly.
Sunak says “the facts are the facts”. He quotes an economist from the ONS who said recently the economy was going “gangbusters”.
Stability is back, he says.
But he says the election is about the future. We are living in an uncertain world. That demands bold action to deliver security.
Sunak interviewed on Today programme
Nick Robinson is interviewing Rishi Sunak. He says the PM is in the “warm and dry”, which prompts some nervous laughter from the PM.
Q: Why are you having the election now?
Sunak says the economy is recovering. There is more work to do. But “we have turned a corner”, and so now is the time to think about the future.
Q: But why now is still a puzzle. Why not wait until you can show the plan is working? Won’t people suspect that you know it won’t work by January?
Sunak says he is not claiming the job is done.
But he has brought economic stability back, he says.
Good morning. It is the first day of the general election campaign, and Rishi Sunak has been doing an interview round. He is about to appear on the Today programme. Earlier, on BBC Breakfast, he appeared to admit the first Rwanda deportation flights will not take off before the election on 4 July. He told the programme:
The first flights will go in July. If I’m re-elected as prime minister on July 5, these flights will go, we will get our Rwanda scheme up and running.
Here is Pippa Crerar’s morning story about the campaign.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Keir Starmer is holding a campaign event in Kent.
9.15am: Sunak is campaigning in Derbyshire, where he is due to take part in a Q&A. He is also visiting south Wales and, at around 5.30pm, the Inverness area with Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader.
9.30am: The latest immigration figures are published.
10am: Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the Covid inquiry.
11am: Richard Tice, the Reform UK leader, holds a press conference.
1.30pm: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Cheltenham,
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