Under the Illegal Migration Bill, migrants caught crossing the Channel in a small boat will be detained and deported
GARETH FULLER/PA
Befitting a man schooled in finance, Rishi Sunak has put numbers at the core of his five pledges. Everything he has promised, from halving inflation and stimulating growth to cutting debt and reducing NHS waiting lists, can be measured precisely. His fifth pledge can be measured, too. And it is the most politically toxic metric of all.
Some 80,000 illegal migrants are forecast to cross the Channel to Britain this year in small boats. If this figure, or anything like it, is reached, Mr Sunak and his home secretary, Suella Braverman, will face a huge backlash from sections of the Conservative Party and public.
• Gary Lineker latest: Suella Braverman hits back after attack on migrant plans
Migration is a cut-through issue. It was weaponised
