Lord Frost has warned Rishi Sunak faces three "big problems" as Prime Minister, highlighting Channel migrant crossings, the inclusion of transgender people in a proposed conversion therapy ban, and the ongoing row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Writing in The Telegraph, the former Brexit minister said: "Economic growth matters. But so do values and so does the ability to do raw politics. Here, three big problems are looming." He said it would not be easy to stop small boat crossings and that the Government would "pay a political price" unless voters believed it had done everything possible, including overriding European human rights commitments. He also claimed extending the conversion therapy ban to transgender people risked a "terrible identity politics tangle that just alienates our own supporters".
Lord Frost insisted it was a mistake to pause the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would give ministers powers to unilaterally override elements of the protocol. He said the UK was left with no leverage to secure an agreement, adding that he understood Mr Sunak was "holding a tougher line than some in his team". He added: "I’m with the Prime Minister in trying to pull off something good. If he can’t: well, no deal is still better than a bad one."
The intervention comes as Mr Sunak seeks to turn around the Conservatives' dire polling, with Labour holding a 19-point lead. During a visit to Morecambe, the Prime Minister defended his decision to hold off on tax cuts, citing the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He has previously set out five priorities for 2023, including halving inflation and introducing new laws to stop small boats.
