Priti Patel accuses Rishi Sunak of blocking cash as chancellor to speed up the asylum backlog
PRITI Patel has accused Rishi Sunak of blocking cash as chancellor to speed up the asylum backlog.
The former home secretary said he “completely rejected” her request for additional funding in 2021.
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She told the Inside Whitehall podcast that the money will go toward computerizing the system, which is “still very paper-based.”
She added, “We said, ‘If you don’t do that, you’re basically going to spend more money because the cases are going to take longer to process.'”
Ministers are preparing for record-breaking net immigration figures in 2022.
A promise to bring the number below 230,000 was dropped by Mr Sunak last week.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey risked controversy yesterday when she told Times Radio that high migration could be good for economic growth.
Meanwhile, Tory backbencher Andrea Jenkyns slammed Mr Sunak for dropping his promise.
She said: “We cannot commit political suicide at the moment. This is where we need to put pressure on the Prime Minister to return to more conservative policies.”
In Japan, the prime minister said: “I think the numbers are too high. And I am determined to bring her down.”
He added: “We are considering a number of options.”
A No.10 source said of Ms Patel’s claim: “As Chancellor, the Prime Minister has poured over £3billion into the UK’s asylum system, including an additional £85million a year to improve the case-handling system and strengthen border security.”
