Grant Shapps has finally revealed that he actually never liked Rishi Sunak’s famous “stop the boats” slogan.
The former cabinet minister was known as one of the ex-PM’s top allies, but was ousted from his Welwyn Hatfield seat – one he’s represented since 2005 – at the general election.
Now, weeks into his life outside of government and the Commons, Shapps has announced that he did not actually Sunak’s flagship promise was a good idea.
Speaking on the Political Currency podcast, he said the “moment” he heard it, “right from the outset”, he thought the slogan was comparable to vowing “stop crime”.
“No one’s going to stop all crime, so don’t make a claim that is never going to be provable,” Shapps said.
Sunak promised to “stop the boats” at the start of 2023, as one of his five priorities for government.
The phrase has resurfaced recently after far-right extremists chanted it during some of the violent, anti-migrant riots over the last week and a half.
Sunak also said he would halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce national debt and cut NHS waiting lists during his first full calendar year in No.10.
Of all five promises, Sunak’s government only managed to fulfil its inflation pledge.
And, by June 2024, the number of migrants making the dangerous journey across the English Channel was up by 41%, taking the total up to 10,745, according to Home Office stats.
Still, Shapps seemed to stand by the “stop the boats” pledge when it was first unveiled.
In April 2023, he wrote on X: “I just voted to #StopTheBoats because those that come here illegally must be detained and removed.”
He added: “Labour have voted against the Rwanda scheme over 100 times, yet they don’t even have their own plan to stop the boats.”
Since getting into power, Labour have completely scrapped the Rwanda plan.
It means the last government spent £700m setting up a scheme that did not forcibly deport a single asylum seeker.
