Rishi Sunak vow to ‘stop small boats’ doomed to fail, claim senior Conservatives

Exclusive: PM is ‘over-promising’, top Tories tells The Independent ahead of controversial new legislation

Rishi Sunak’s latest pledge to stop illegal Channel migrants before the next election could backfire on him, according to senior Conservatives.

The prime minister is expected to unveil new legislation on Tuesday designed to stop asylum seekers from using human rights laws to avoid deportation.

But senior Tories have told The Independent they fear he has “over-promised” and will be forced to break his pledge to “stop the boats” before the general election expected to take place in late 2024.