This government no longer seems serious about solving illegal migration, warns Jacob Rees-Mogg

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has slammed his own colleagues and claimed the Prime Minister “has repeatedly and manifestly not delivered” on key election pledges.

Speaking on GB News he said: “Suella Braverman’s letter to the Prime Minister is excoriating, I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s part of the sulphurous mood on the Tory backbenches.

“Aside from accusing him of weakness, betrayal, of having no intention of fulfilling the pledges made to the British people and of failure to deliver, it shows something much deeper.

“She reveals she supported him because of the following assurances made to her:

“First, that legal migration would be reduced via reforming student visas and thresholds for work visas.

“Second, that the ECHR and Human Rights Act would be excluded from operation in small boats legislation.

“Third, that the Northern Ireland Protocol and Retained EU Law Bills would be delivered in their then existing forms.

“And finally, that unequivocal statutory guidance would be issued to schools regarding gender identity with single-sex spaces protected.

“Suella Braverman is right. The Prime Minister has repeatedly and manifestly not delivered on these promises. So the question is, did he really make them to her?

“She says in her letter that her support for Rishi Sunak was instrumental in his election and I happen to know she is right about this too because at the time I tried to persuade Suella to back Boris. But in the end, she went with Sunak, and I believe that is why Sunak won the race.

“He owes it to Suella.

“And tomorrow is a defining day for the question of illegal migration. The Supreme Court will give its judgment on the question of the legality of the Rwanda policy.

“But if the policy is ruled illegal, serious questions must be asked about leaving the European Court of Human Rights or at least not following its judgement.

“Suella has pointed out in her letter that even if the government wins tomorrow, owing to the Prime Minister’s concessions, Rwanda deportations will be subject to months of appeals and legal challenges.

“Suella was willing to override the ECHR to get Rwanda done, as of course we’ve done with prisoner voting rights.

“But equally importantly, Suella Braverman was willing to resist the Treasury and OBR orthodoxy that has led to mass legal migration.

“She not only knew that the public didn’t want mass migration, but that it also has social and economic consequences.

“Sadly, this government no longer seems serious about solving illegal or even legal migration.

“And if the government isn’t careful, this will be reflected at the next election.

“As the New Conservatives said in its statement today, “The Conservative Party now looks like it is deliberately walking away from the coalition of voters who brought us into power with a large majority in 2019.”

“If we are to win the next election, we must cut taxes such as death duties or corporation tax.

“We must continue to limit expensive green policies, such as the Emissions Trading Scheme and the crazy prospect of an import tax in the form of a carbon border adjustment mechanism.

“We must stop the boats.

“And we must bring mass migration down significantly as we promised in 2010.

“But these cabinet changes seem to be a sign that the Prime Minister doesn’t want to satisfy the mandate that voters gave to Boris.”