[ad_1]
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made a £1,000 bet with Piers Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda will take place before the next election.
The brazen move took place during an interview on TalkTV’s ‘Piers Morgan: Uncensored’ while discussing Mr Sunak’s election promises.
Mr Morgan asked the Prime Minister: ‘I’ll bet you a thousand pounds to a refugee charity that you don’t get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?’
Mr Sunak replied: ‘Well, I want to get the people on the planes. Of course I want to get the people on the planes,’ before shaking Mr Morgan’s hand.
The PM set a target of sending asylum seekers who arrive in the UK via unauthorised routes, including those crossing the English Channel in small boats, to the east African country by spring 2024.
The government has already paid Rwanda £240 million under the Prime Minister’s plan to ‘stop the boats’ – another of his five key pledges – and ministers expect to pay an additional £50 million this year.
But no migrants have yet been removed due to legal challenges that resulted in the Supreme Court last year finding the scheme unlawful.
Mr Sunak held an emergency press conference in early December to defend his Rwanda plan after the fierce criticism.
As a ‘child of immigrants’, the Tory leader said he understands why vulnerable people travel across the English Channel to get to Britain.
‘But the difference is,’ he said, ‘my family came here legally.’
He added that people made to board flights to the African country will be ‘banned from travelling to the UK, settling here or becoming a citizen’.
‘Even with this new law here at home, we could still face challenges from the European Court of Human Rights in Strausburg,’ Mr Sunak said.
He has continued to say he ‘will not allow a foreign court’ to block the controversial flights.
The full interview will air on Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube at 2pm today, and on TalkTV at 8pm.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : Susanna Reid struck by ‘hangry’ struggle after attempting 36-hour fast
MORE : Disposable vapes to be banned by the end of year
MORE : Bradley Walsh in hysterics as The Chase makes Tories butt of the joke
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
[ad_2]