Sir Keir Starmer has accused Rishi Sunak of never believing the Rwanda deportation plan would work after the Prime Minister conceded flights would not take off before the election.
The Prime Minister and Labour leader kicked off their campaigns on Thursday with Mr Sunak urging voters to back him at the polls if they want the Government’s flagship immigration scheme to succeed.
During the morning broadcast round, Mr Sunak admitted planes carrying asylum seekers to Kigali would take off after polling day, but vowed the “preparation work” had already happened.
Mr Sunak took a huge political gamble by calling a July 4 election on Wednesday night in a rain-soaked press statement outside Number 10, despite having marked the month for when the first deportation flight would take place.
Speaking on a visit to Gillingham in Kent, a traditional Conservative heartland, Sir Keir said: “I don’t think he’s ever believed that plan is going to work, and so he has called an election early enough to have it not tested before the election.
“We have to deal with the terrible loss of control of the border under this Government, we have to tackle the small boats that are coming across but nobody should be making that journey.”
Meanwhile Mr Sunak insisted that the Rwanda scheme would provide a deterrent, telling GB News: “Unless you’re able to deliver that, people will keep coming.”
On a visit to a distribution centre in Derbyshire, the PM sought to hammer his message that the Tories have a “clear plan” while Labour would go “back to square one”.
Mr Sunak highlighted his record as pandemic-era chancellor in insisting voters should back him at the polls if they want to see economic stability.
But speaking to LBC, the Prime Minister admitted that flights to Rwanda, which are central to the Government’s ambition to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel, will now take off “after the election”.
“If I’m elected, we will get the flights off,” he said.
Pressed further on timing, he said: “No, after the election. The preparation work has already gone on.”
Sir Keir has said Labour’s plan to curb small boat crossings would involve a new “border command” that would work with other countries to coordinate in tackling people-smuggling gangs.
Meanwhile, net migration – the difference between the number of people legally arriving in the UK and leaving – dropped by 10% last year after hitting a record-breaking 764,000 in 2022, official estimates show.
Those figures are likely to further fuel the immigration debate – a key campaign battleground.
The Prime Minister denied that the real reason for calling a summer election is that inflation is expected to rise again and there is likely to be a spike in cross-Channel arrivals over the summer.
His Labour rival Sir Keir, meanwhile, launched Labour’s election campaign with a visit to south-east England, wanting to make inroads in Tory areas.
In London, Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice is staging a press conference setting out his party’s plans.
The party’s most high-profile figure, honorary president Nigel Farage, said he was thinking about whether to return to frontline politics by standing in the July 4 election.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is expected to visit a target seat as he launches a campaign expected to focus on winning Tory-held seats following a series of eye-catching by-election successes.
Mr Sunak surprised many in Westminster, who had expected an autumn poll, when he fired the starting gun for the summer election.
The news caused disquiet among Tory MPs fearful of losing their jobs, and those who have already said they will not stand are having to say goodbye to Parliament sooner than expected.
Despite speculation at Westminster about a Tory rebel effort to oust Mr Sunak and call off the election, one prominent critic of the Prime Minister said it was “too late” to get rid of him.
Just two more days of Commons business have been scheduled, during which important legislation will have to be rushed through.
Party whips from the Conservatives and Labour are holding talks to work out what outstanding legislation can become law before prorogation – the end of the current parliamentary session – on Friday.
That includes the Victims and Prisoners Bill, which includes measures to establish a compensation scheme for victims of the infected blood scandal.
The Prime Minister could not guarantee this would be authorised, or that Martyn’s Law and the Renters Reform Bill would be passed before Parliament is prorogued.
But he told LBC he would “do absolutely everything in my power to make sure that we do get that through”.
In his Downing Street statement, the Prime Minister said the election would be a question of trust, warning that Sir Keir was not the man to lead the country through “uncertain” times.
Mr Sunak hopes that Consumer Prices Index inflation falling to 2.3% in April and a recovering economy will help overturn a 20-point opinion poll deficit.
Sir Keir said the election would be a chance to turn the page on 14 years of Conservative rule and “stop the chaos” at Westminster.
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