• The candidates running to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister of Great Britain pledged to make stopping illegal immigration a top priority.
• Both backed the government’s plan to transfer migrants to Rwanda.
• Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss are vying to become Britain’s next leader.

July 24, LONDON – On Sunday, the two candidates running to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister of Great Britain pledged to make stopping illegal immigration a top priority. Both also backed the government’s plan to transfer migrants to Rwanda.

After a backlash against Johnson’s scandal-plagued administration pushed the prime minister to announce his resignation, former finance minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss are vying to become Britain’s next leader.

The timing of any tax reduction has been a point of contention between the two contenders as Britain deals with rising prices, sluggish growth, and an increasing number of strikes.

After Truss led polls of the Conservative Party members who will choose their new leader and the British prime minister, with the decision expected on September 5, Sunak on Saturday referred to himself as “the underdog.”

Both candidates outlined their plans on Sunday to continue the government’s policy of deporting illegal immigrants to Rwanda, despite the European Court of Human Rights’ last month’s decision to stop the first deportation flight (ECHR).

The front-runner in the race for the leadership, Truss, promised to enhance the British Bill of Rights, develop additional “third country processing agreements like Rwanda,” and raise the border force by 20%.

In a statement, Truss stated, “As prime minister, I am committed to seeing the Rwanda policy through to full execution as well as investigating other nations where we may cooperate on similar partnerships.”

“I’ll see to it that our borders are adequately fortified and protected. I won’t submit to the ECHR’s ongoing attempts to regulate immigration policy.”

In prior leadership ballots, Sunak, who received support from the majority of Conservative lawmakers, declared that he would consider illegal immigration as “one of five main emergency measures” he would address in his first 100 days as prime minister.

He declared in the publication The Sun, “I’ll take a hard-headed targets approach, with incentives for people who fulfil them and sanctions for those who don’t.

“I won’t think twice about our connection with a country when it comes to foreign aid, trade, and visas if they won’t cooperate on taking back illegal migrants.”

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