Suella Braverman attacks Rishi Sunak for relying on ‘bad weather’ to stop small boat crossings

Suella Braverman has taken her latest shot at Rishi Sunak, accusing the PM of relying on “bad weather” to stop small boat crossings.

The former home secretary lashed out at the PM after Britain saw the first arrivals cross the channel this year.

The country had seen zero arrivals in 26 days, which was the longest period of no small boat crossings since 2020.

But, as the poor weather eased, around 50 people were reported to have been brought ashore from the channel by the UK Border Force.

open image in gallery

“‘Bad weather’ is not a sustainable policy for stopping the boats,” Ms Braverman said.

Labour took advantage of the infighting, saying Mr Sunak and home secretary James Cleverly “spent the festive period crowing about their small boats policies, but [crossings resuming] proves what experts said the whole time”.

“The pause in crossings had nothing to do with them and everything to do with the wet, windy weather,” shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said.

The interventions come days before MPs vote on Mr Sunak’s backup Rwanda bill, aimed at reviving plans to deport asylum seekers to the east African nation.

It was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in November, but Mr Sunak is seeking to pass a fresh bill to get planes in the sky. It is a key part of the PM’s pledge to “stop the boats”, set out last January.

Right-wing MPs are demanding a that backup bill, designed to salvage the policy, is strengthened to allow the government to override international laws such as the European Convention on Human Rights.

But moderate MPs from the One Nation caucus have threatened to vote the bill down if it risks breaching Britain’s international obligations.

Her latest attack on the PM came after Ms Braverman threatened to vote against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda bill next week unless he commits to toughening up the flagship legislation.

She told GB News that the British people are “fed up with the boats” and “fed up with broken promises” and that this is the “last chance” for the government to get it right.

open image in gallery

She said: “What my objective is, is to deliver a bill that works. And it’s far better to defeat this bill, because it doesn’t work, and start again with a new bill that will work than proceed on a false premise, than proceed on a basis that amounts to something that won’t stop the boats.”

She was joined by fellow right-wing rebel and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, who said the bill “will not work” without amendments.

And he said the measures failing would lead to an illegal migration “catastrophe”.

He wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “In short, as currently drafted, every single small boat arrival will be able to concoct a personal reason for why Rwanda is unsafe for them and they can’t be removed.

“This will lead to individuals being taken off flights, the courts being overwhelmed and the operational collapse of the policy, with illegal arrivals being released on bail from detention as the backlog of hearings grow.”

He added: “As legislators, we have the power to avert this catastrophe, for in our sovereign parliament the law is our servant, not our master. We owe it to our constituents – whose interests we are sent to parliament to advance – to deliver.

“They will tolerate nothing less.”

Mr Jenrick has tabled amendments to the bill to strengthen it, which are backed by 10s of right-wing MPs. But if the bill is toughened up, it risks losing the support of more than 100 moderate One Nation Conservatives and failing.