British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walks outside No. 10 Downing Street in London, United Kingdom on October 26, 2022. Photo by Peter Nicholls/Portal
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced a rebellion from restless lawmakers over his signature immigration policies as he fended off tough questions Monday about his judgment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The double pressure adds up to one of the most difficult weeks of Sunak's 13 months in office, with both his current authority and his record to date at stake.
A bill to save Sunak's stalled plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to be voted on in the House of Commons on Tuesday. While disparate groups of Conservative lawmakers met in Parliament to plug loopholes in the bill, Sunak was harassed for six hours at Britain's pandemic inquiry, denying he had taken public health risks.
Sunak was Prime Minister Boris Johnson's finance chief when the pandemic broke out and supported a discount initiative that encouraged people to go out to restaurants again in August 2020 after months of lockdown.
The government's scientific advisers told the inquest they had not been informed in advance of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, which scientists have linked to a rise in infections. A senior government science adviser at the time referred to Sunak as “Dr. Death”.
Sunak denied there was a “conflict between public health and the economy” in tackling the pandemic, which authorities said has killed more than 230,000 people in the UK
He said his role was to “ensure that the Prime Minister receives the best possible advice, information and analysis on the economic impact” of potential measures. He emphasized that Johnson, as prime minister at the time, was “the ultimate and sole decision maker”.
At the inquiry last week, Johnson dismissed suggestions he wanted to let the virus “rip” through society.
Sunak denied seeing a warning from government scientific advisers in late June 2020 about the risks of opening up society. He defended his decision not to consult scientists on the Eat Out to Help Out plan, saying the government had “already made the collective decision to reopen indoor dining.” He said the policy helped save the livelihoods of low-paid bar and restaurant workers.
Sunak began his statement by apologizing to everyone who had suffered during the pandemic, saying it was important to “learn the lessons so we can be better prepared in the future.”
However, his statements did not include his WhatsApp messages at the time. Sunak claimed they had been lost in several phone changes since then.
Johnson was also unable to produce messages from several key months in 2020 because they were on an old phone whose password he had forgotten, and tech experts were unable to retrieve them.
Naomi Fulop, from advocacy group COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, said Sunak's evidence showed he posed a “danger to public health”.
“Today Sunak repeatedly claimed that he 'couldn't remember' key moments from his time as chancellor. The public does,” Fulop said.
Meanwhile, Sunak is fighting to save the Rwanda plan, a key part of his promise to stop illegal migrants crossing from France to England in small boats. More than 29,000 people have done so this year, up from 46,000 in all of 2022.
The plan has already cost the government 240 million pounds ($300 million) in payments to Rwanda, which in 2022 agreed to process and accommodate hundreds of asylum seekers from the United Kingdom every year. This month, the United Kingdom's Supreme Court declared the plan invalid illegal and declared that Rwanda was not a safe destination for refugees.
In response, Britain and Rwanda signed a treaty pledging to strengthen protections for migrants. Sunak's government argues that the treaty allows it to pass a law declaring Rwanda a safe travel destination regardless of the Supreme Court ruling.
If passed by Parliament, the bill would allow the government to “not apply” parts of the UK’s Human Rights Act to Rwanda-related asylum claims.
The bill faces opposition from centrist conservative lawmakers who fear it sidelines the courts and from lawmakers in the party's authoritarian wing who say the legislation is too lenient because it leaves migrants with some legal options to challenge deportation , including before the European Court of Human Rights.
The hardline European Research Group of conservative lawmakers said the bill “offers a partial and incomplete solution” and requires major changes. Group member Mark Francois called on Sunak to revise the bill before it is put to a vote, but did not say whether he would vote against it if this did not happen.
If the bill is passed on Tuesday, it faces weeks of arguments and further votes in parliament. Defeat would leave the Rwanda plan in tatters and threaten Sunak's leadership.
Sunak believes that by fulfilling his promise to “stop the boats” the Conservatives can close a major gap in the polls with the opposition Labor Party before an election next year.
But some Tory MPs believe he will fail and are considering a leadership change. Under party rules, Sunak faces a vote of no confidence if 53 MPs – 15% of all Conservatives – call for a vote of no confidence.
Others argue that removing another prime minister without a national election would be disastrous. Sunak is the third Conservative prime minister since the last election in 2019, after the party ousted both Johnson and his successor Liz Truss.
MP Damian Green, a leading moderate Conservative, said anyone who wanted to change the party leader again was “either crazy or malicious or both”.