Rishi Sunak considered AXING Rwanda asylum seeker scheme in July 2022 but was warned off
RISHI Sunak considered axing the Rwanda scheme in July 2022, The Sun can reveal.
During the Tory leadership election the now PM weighed up ditching the £290m deportation plan.
Mr Sunak yesterday admitted raising concerns about the value for money of the policy as Chancellor – but said he now fully backs it.
Tory sources say during Mr Sunak’s unsuccessful tilt at the leadership against Liz Truss two summers ago, he “weighed up” junking the policy.
One campaign insider said: “He was told very clearly it would go down badly with the MPs who loved it and he changed his mind.”
The revelation comes after leaked documents showed Mr Sunak pushed back against the idea and capped the funding for the project which was first unveiled in April 2022.
But he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that his job then was “always approach things from a position of scepticism”.
He added: “But to infer from that that I don’t believe in the scheme or the principle of deterrence is wrong.”
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called for the papers outlining Mr Sunak’s concerns to be made public.
MPs will vote again in two weeks on new legislation to try get planes off to Rwanda after the Supreme Court blocked the plan.
Mr Sunak risked a fresh rift with the right of his party yesterday after refusing to say he would ignore any interim injunction from the European Court of Human Rights that grounded flights.