Documents seen by the BBC have revealed that Rishi Sunak harboured significant doubts about the Rwanda asylum scheme while serving as chancellor, questioning both its cost and effectiveness.
The papers, dating from March 2022, indicate that Mr Sunak believed hotels were cheaper than reception centres and was concerned about the overall expense. He reportedly suggested flying only 500 people to Rwanda in the first year rather than the proposed 1,500, and 3,000 instead of 5,000 in subsequent years. He was also said to have concluded that the 'deterrent won't work'.
Mr Sunak, now prime minister, has insisted he remains committed to the policy, which is currently the subject of a bill before Parliament. A source close to him said he was always fully behind the principle of the scheme as a deterrent, but as chancellor it was his job to ensure value for taxpayer money.
The cost of the scheme has more than doubled to £290 million, according to figures from the Home Office. Labour's shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, accused the prime minister of knowing the plan was costly and ineffective, but said he was now writing cheques to Rwanda in a desperate attempt to shore up his leadership. Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, said he would seek to strengthen the bill unless the government did so.
Labour has called on Mr Sunak to publish the documents in full. The party said he should 'come clean' about his reservations. Earlier, Sir Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of giving Rwanda hundreds of millions of pounds for nothing in return.
