RISHI Sunak fought to keep migrants in hotels as Chancellor rather than build large-scale camps, The Sun can reveal.
Leaked documents from 2022 show officials complaining he was “refusing to fund” Greek-style asylum centres and insisted “hotels are cheaper”.
The bombshell papers risk a fresh row for Mr Sunak as the bill for housing small boat arrivals in hotels has since spiralled to £8million per day.
We can disclose that aides implored then PM Boris Johnson to overrule his Chancellor and demand he provide money for large-scale accommodation.
A No10 dossier reeled off several illegal immigration proposals Mr Sunak was supposedly seeking to frustrate.
One section said: “CX [Chancellor] is refusing to fund any non-detained accommodation (e.g. Greek-style reception centres) because hotels are cheaper.”
The memo implored Mr Johnson to hit back that “depending on hotels a long-term solution is politically untenable and completely inappropriate for the British state.”
Officials argued that “viewing this purely through a value for money lens is disingenuous” and that voters “rightly consider it completely unacceptable”.
Downing Street sources insisted however that Mr Sunak was merely concerned about value for money and the document was an unfair representation of his views.
Since becoming PM, Mr Sunak has branded migrant hotels a “farce” and has begun the process of winding them down.
Around 50 have been closed since the autumn and a further 50 are earmarked to shut by the spring.
Mr Sunak has denied separate reports accusing him of resisting the Rwanda plan and insisted it was his job as Chancellor to weigh up the cost to taxpayers.
Next week the flagship scheme returns to the Commons where right-wing rebels are plotting to toughen it up.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg today said the current Bill will not stop the boats in its current form.
He said: “Passing an ineffective bill would make the government look hopeless.
“In many ways it would be better to do nothing than to fail again, because this is, actually, the third go at trying to get people deported to Rwanda.
“And there are many MPs including me, who believe the bill lacks clarity and is in some sense, a bit moth eaten.”
The ex-Cabinet Minister is among a cabal of backbenchers demanding the Bill automatically overrules legal challenges to removals from European judges and individual migrants.
Downing Street said it will hold crunch talks with rebels before votes next week.
