The minister of state for illegal migration has said the Prime Minister is not going to debate Nigel Farage on immigration because he is not the leader of a political party.
Michael Tomlinson said Rishi Sunak was not shying away from the issue and believed immigration and Rwanda would be ‘front and centre’ of the Conservative’s election campaign.
Speaking on GB News Michael Tomlinson said: “Ilegal migration was down by a third last year and in fact, year on year, it's down by around 30%. But too many people are coming across still.
“The Prime Minister's pledge to stop the votes depends on the Rwanda scheme. It depends on getting the deterrent up and running. We saw the beginnings of the deterrent from people who are saying they don't want to come over to come over to the United Kingdom anymore because they're anxious about being sent around to Rwanda. That's not where they want to end up. But in order for the deterrent effect fully to kick in, we need those flights off the ground.
“Flights have not yet taken off. Don't forget, Labour are determined to scrap this scheme. They want to stop the flights, we want to stop the boats.
“But the full deterrent effect will only be seen when those flights actually take off. And not just one flight, but a steady rhythm of regular flights, such as the Prime Minister has pledged.
“That's why we spent all that time getting this legislation through. That's why we need to press on and vote Conservative on July 4th to ensure that the Rwanda scheme is up and running as a deterrent effect.
“Respectfully, Nigel [Farage] isn't the leader of the party. There will be debates and Rishi Sunak has challenged Keir Starmer to a debate every week. And he's slightly shrugged his shoulders at that; he's dodging the debates.
“But actually that's where the debate should happen, because it’s going to be a clear choice. [Starmer] has dodged the offer, the suggestion, the challenge of a debate every single week, he certainly dodged that.
“You're right. There will be one or two debates, but not as many as the Prime Minister had wanted, because we hadn't heard any ideas from the Labour Party, in contrast to the big, bold ideas and announcements that we've heard from Rishi Sunak.
“So I would much rather have seen a debate every week so we could flesh out what on earth are we going to get if Keir Starmer gets into Downing Street.
“If he's given the keys to down the street, which flip flop we're going to get this week? We just don't know, and that's why the Prime Minister challenged him to those debates, so we could hear more of the ideas from Labour which has simply been lacking.
“You heard actually, on the first interview that the Prime Minister gave on the campaign trail, him being asked about the Rwanda scheme. I'm sure immigration and Rwanda are going to be front and centre.”
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