Choice at next election is clear – only Conservatives have a plan

Rishi Sunak

The last few weeks have demonstrated the clear choice at the next election between the Conservatives and Labour. A plan versus no plan, bold principled action versus U-turns and prevarication, a clear record of delivery versus political game playing, a leader focused on the future or a party obsessed with talking about the past.
Whether it’s the economy, migration, welfare or the defence of our realm, the Conservatives have a plan and it’s working, and Labour is nowhere to be seen. Take migration. I am determined to get control of migration, both legal and illegal. That is why I have introduced measures designed to halve legal migration and have got the Rwanda scheme on the statute book despite the opposition of Sir Keir Starmer and the blockers.
Just this week, our approach is being vindicated. First, Rwanda. Already, the deterrent effect is working, and illegal immigrants are leaving this country because they fear being detained and deported. We’ve seen the proof that a deterrent works, given the concerns raised by the Irish just this week, less than a week after our Rwanda Bill became law.
Migrants are already leaving the UK and going to Ireland for fear of being sent to Rwanda. The way to deter illegal immigration is for people to know that if they come here illegally, they won’t get to stay. The more countries that send out that message, the better. If other countries won’t do that, then they will have to deal with the consequences of that. Preparations for our Rwanda flights are continuing. This week, we started detaining those who will be sent to Kigali. I am determined to keep up a regular flow of flights over the summer.
Starting the flights is how we will stop the boats, break the business model of the criminal gangs, stop young children from losing their lives making this perilous journey and ensure that it is us – your government – who decides who comes to this country. This week, we removed the first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda, the first time a failed asylum seeker has ever been sent to a third country they have no connection to.
The exercise reassured us that the process works and that the Rwandans are ready to receive these people. It proves that, no matter what our opponents claim, Rwanda is a safe third country and the system works. By contrast, Labour has no plan to deal with illegal migration. They would scrap the Rwanda scheme with nothing to put in its place.
This would mean that they would have to release everyone we have detained to go to Rwanda, cancel the flights we have booked to send them there and admit tens of thousands of people to the asylum system. This would double the asylum backlog. How would Sir Keir Starmer resolve this? In truth, he wouldn’t be able to, so Labour would end up offering a de facto asylum amnesty. This would act as a massive pull factor bringing illegal migrants from all over Europe to our shores. And we would end up spending billions of pounds putting people up in hotels all over again, while asylum claims were processed.
Not only are we making progress on tackling illegal migration, but legal migration too. The current levels are far too high. I have taken steps to halve legal migration and data released this week shows that our plan is working. The number of student dependents is down 80 per cent, and those coming on the health and social care visa in March were down by almost a third compared to last year.
At the same time, we have increased the immigration and health surcharge to make sure immigration doesn’t place an unfair burden on our National Health Service. When it comes to dealing with migration, it is clear that only the Conservatives have a plan. Getting immigration under control is just one of my aims. Across the board, we are taking a truly Conservative approach. This week, our second personal tax cut is hitting pay packets – meaning an average worker is paying £900 less tax. I have announced a plan to clamp down on welfare spending and ensure the system is fair to the taxpayers who fund it and those who genuinely need our help.
All Labour can do is scaremonger, but their scaremongering can’t hide the fact that they will always find a reason to oppose tax cuts and welfare savings. We Conservatives are committed to our national defence which is why we have a fully funded plan to raise defence spending to 2.5 per cent by 2030.
Labour, by contrast, still refuses to match that and instead wants to maintain the civil service at its current, post Covid size. The choice is clear: a more powerful military with the Conservatives or a bigger bureaucracy with Labour, led by people who do not believe in our nuclear deterrent. Thursday’s results showed that voters are frustrated and wondering why they should vote. The fact that Labour is not winning in places they admit they need for a majority shows that Keir Starmer’s lack of plan and vision is hurting them. We Conservatives have everything to fight for – and we will, because we are fighting for our values and our country’s future.
The Telegraph