Sunak Unveils 10-Point Border Security Plan as Truss May Turn to Foreign Policy in Fight for PM Seat

Former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has laid out a ten-point plan to take back control of Britain’s borders, which stipulates among other things that tackling the Channel crossings crisis will be a priority if he wins the vote.

This weekend, Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are continuing their campaigns for Number 10 as both Conservative leadership rivals are offering policy proposals to entice Tory party members.

The ex-chancellor rolled out the blueprint in article for The Telegraph, vowing, in particular, to introduce a cap on refugee numbers if he becomes prime minister.

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He also promised to curb the power of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), send failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals back home, and use cruise ships to house illegal migrants.

“The ECHR cannot inhibit our ability to properly control our borders and we shouldn't let it. We need to inject a healthy dose of common sense into the system, and that is what my plan does”, Sunak wrote.

He described the UK immigration system as “broken” and urged the government “to be honest about that.” According to him, “whether you believe that migration should be high or low, we can all agree that it should be legal and controlled.

Sunak argued that currently, Britain’s immigration system is “chaotic, with law-abiding citizens seeing boats full of illegal immigrants coming from the safe country of France, with our sailors and coastguards seemingly powerless to stop them.”

“It must stop, and if I am prime minister I will stop it with a series of concrete measures that are reasonable, fair and proportionate, including tightening the definition of who qualifies for asylum and setting up a Small Boats Taskforce to protect those being exploited by criminal gangs, and end the scourge of illegal migration,” he underscored.

The former chancellor has also pledged to do “whatever it takes” to ensure the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is put into effect, a stand that was supported by Truss.

Speaking to the Daily Mail on Sunday, the foreign secretary called transporting refugees to Rwanda “the right policy,” adding that she was “determined to see it through, as well as exploring other countries that we [the UK] can work on similar partnerships with.”

She also pledged that if she became prime minister, she would increase frontline border-force staff levels from 9,000 to 10,800 and ensure a British Bill of Rights to give parliament the authority to make laws tackling illegal immigration.

The Telegraph has, meanwhile, quoted unnamed sources in Truss’ campaign team as saying that foreign policy remains one of the foreign secretary’s “strong points, as well as being one of Sunak’s weaknesses.”

“Liz is the one who has the experience, the credibility and the resolve when it comes to Ukraine and China, which puts her at the hawkish end of the party, while Rishi is more at the dovish end. It’s a bit of a winner for us. Liz’s pitch is that this is a more dangerous time than at any point since the Cold War and she can put Britain in a leadership role on the world stage,” one source claimed.

This came after supporters of Truss accused Sunak of being “overly cautious” about sanctions against Russia and pushing for increased trade with China, even in the face of Beijing’s alleged human rights abuses. Those who back the ex-chancellor, however, insisted that the Truss camp had mischaracterized Sunak’s response to China and Russia, and that he would take a tougher stance on the issues as prime minister if he wins the race.

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“All the sanctions that were put in place against Russia, like freezing assets, were put in place by the Treasury and Rishi was instrumental in making those sanctions happen. […] He is incredibly firm on the need to make sure any economic relationship with China does not endanger national security, and his view is that there should be no compromise on economic grounds when the values we share are not being followed by other countries,” an unnamed source within the Sunak campaign told the Telegraph.

A new Opinium poll has, in the meantime, showed that 43% believe Sunak would be a good prime minister compared to 36% supporting the foreign secretary. Polling also revealed that people believe Sunak can "get things done" more than Truss, while the foreign secretary is deemed more "likeable" than her former cabinet colleague.

Truss and Sunak secured their places in the final two on Wednesday, when Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out in the fifth round of voting by Conservative MPs.