STEPHEN GLOVER: Rishi Sunak is talking more robustly about migrants than ever before, while Keir Starmer just bellyaches. But now the PM HAS to deliver on his promises

Will Rishi Sunak have had his knuckles rapped by his wife, Akshata, on his return from a conference in Rome?

Yesterday’s papers were full of pictures of Rishi kissing — or being kissed by — the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and of the two embracing with a degree of enthusiasm seldom, if ever, seen between national leaders.

Rishi and Giorgia first bonded in April when (as Rishi put it on Saturday) they ‘looked through Margaret Thatcher’s papers’ in No 10. The Italian prime minister is a great fan of the Iron Lady, as she is of several British writers, including the novelist J.R.R. Tolkien and the late conservative philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton.

I’ve no doubt Mr Sunak gave a good account of himself to his wife and explained why his attendance — alone among Western European leaders — at Meloni’s political festival was so vital to his own cause. 

Rishi has found an ally. He spotted that, despite constant reminders by the Left that Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party has ‘fascist roots’, the Italian prime minister is a pragmatic and surprisingly effective centre-Right politician. Both leaders also share a preoccupation with illegal immigration.

Rishi and Giorgia first bonded in April when (as Rishi put it on Saturday) they ‘looked through Margaret Thatcher’s papers’ in No 10

Roughly 140,000 migrants have arrived in Italy from North Africa this year, about four times the number of those crossing the Channel in boats

Roughly 140,000 migrants have arrived in Italy from North Africa this year, about four times the number of those crossing the Channel in boats. Illegal immigration is probably even more hotly debated in Italy than in Britain and Meloni’s promise to do something about it largely explains her rise to power.

Her latest idea is to send migrants to Albania, where their claims will be processed. In contrast to the migrants the Government dreams of dispatching to Rwanda, Meloni’s won’t stay long in Albania as they won’t be offered the option of settling there. They will either be granted asylum and return to Italy or be deported. Ms Meloni has — alone among Western leaders — commended the British scheme.

Incidentally, we can be sure that two people particularly upset by the Sunak/Meloni love-in will be Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and President Macron of France. Following the bitterness of Brexit, EU doctrine abhors the rapturous embrace of any British Tory leader.

How did Rishi do? Having been praised to the skies by Meloni, and facing an enthusiastic audience, he let his hair down. In fact, at times he sounded like the outspoken Suella Braverman, whom he removed from the Home Office last month.

His warning that Britain faces being ‘overwhelmed’ by illegal migration recalled Mrs Braverman’s phrase ‘the hurricane of mass migration’, which she used at the Tory Party Conference in October. Mr Sunak was apparently thinking about illegal migration, whereas Suella was seemingly talking about both the legal and illegal sort.

Nonetheless, what Rishi said will have pleased the Tory Right. In particular, he suggested there might be a need to ‘amend post-war frameworks around asylum’. This seems to be a reference to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the 1953 European Convention on Human Rights. Radical talk.

By the way, if a white politician talked about immigration being ‘overwhelming’ or a ‘hurricane’, there would be an outcry. There certainly was in 1978, when Thatcher said that ‘people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture’.

But it is difficult, if not positively idiotic, to accuse either Mr Sunak or Mrs Braverman of being racist. As the children of immigrants, they’re obviously not anti-immigrant. They just want the flow of people into this country to be properly regulated.

And here we come to the nub of Rishi’s challenge. In Italy, at the weekend, he set out his stall on immigration more robustly than ever before. He did so, at least in part, because he believes that on this issue he can create clear blue water between the Tories and Labour.

The PM knows that, for all Sir Keir Starmer’s sniping over the Government’s Rwanda policy, the Labour leader hasn’t come up with a single persuasive policy for reducing illegal migration — or legal, come to that, which, as I never tire of pointing out, was about 16 times greater last year.

More than 29,000 people have crossed the English Channel to reach the UK so far this year – more than the same time in 2021, but fewer than last year

If Mr Sunak can go the polls having further reduced the number of illegal migrants, he would have a good story to tell

The PM knows that, for all Sir Keir Starmer’s sniping over the Government’s Rwanda policy, the Labour leader hasn’t come up with a single persuasive policy for reducing illegal migration

Labour hasn’t got a plan. It simply bellyaches. We know that many voters, perhaps especially in the Red Wall, are concerned about uncontrolled immigration. If Mr Sunak can get over the idea that this is an area where the Tories should be trusted more than Labour — well, he could help spur a Conservative resurgence. 

There’s one problem with this strategy, though, which is that immigration has soared to record levels under this Government. It’s going to be hard to convince the electorate that the Tories suddenly deserve to be trusted.

READ MORE – Tory rebel Mark Francois apologises to the Chief Whip after being accused of intimidating behaviour towards female staff before the vote on Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill 

But it might still be possible. As far as legal immigration is concerned, the Government hurriedly announced a host of measures two weeks ago which it claims will reduce last year’s highest ever net immigration figure of 745,000 by some 300,000.

Whether this is enough is highly questionable since legal immigration would still be far greater than it was before Brexit. It’s a start, though, and by the time of the election (which I’m assuming will take place next autumn) voters may see conclusive proof that the Government has finally got a grip.

Illegal migration represents a bigger problem. It shouldn’t do, because it is so much smaller, but the Prime Minister has made stopping the small boats one of his five pledges. And I think many people feel particularly exercised by it because it seems to them so unfair. 

It’s true that the number of people crossing the Channel has fallen by about a third this year compared to last, largely because the Government has made an agreement with Albania. As a result, migrants from that country, who at one time in 2022 were accounting for almost 40 per cent of the total, have dwindled to almost nothing.

If Mr Sunak can go the polls having further reduced the number of illegal migrants, he would have a good story to tell. But will he? The worry is that, even if the Rwanda Bill gets through Parliament, the numbers being sent to that country will be so small as to make little discernible difference.

Moreover, it remains possible that the Rwanda Bill won’t become law or, even if it does, will be subject to legal challenges that will have the effect of delaying any flights to central Africa beyond the election. In such an event, all Rishi’s promises would come to nought.

Even one flight to Rwanda might have a beneficial effect — I accept that. But the danger for the Prime Minister is that he’ll be seen to be all talk and no action. Whatever happens, he mustn’t stake everything on his Rwanda scheme.

Being lionised in Rome by Giorgia Meloni and her supporters must have been a very pleasurable experience. But Rishi won’t be appreciated by British voters unless he delivers.

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