Jeremy Hunt has rejected calls from party chairman Lee Anderson to send migrants to the Orkney Islands if the Rwanda migrant deal fails.
Speaking earlier this week, Mr Anderson told GB News: “If we can get some accommodation up there, keep these people safe – these people want to be safe, they’re fleeing so-called persecution from these war-torn countries.
“If we can find an island in the Orkneys or up there that’s got no-one on there to start off with, put some decent accommodation on, then it’s job done.”
When asked on Thursday morning, the Mr Hunt shrugged off the suggestion from his outspoken colleague as he insisted the Government remains committed to reducing immigration numbers despite failing to push forward with the Rwanda deal.
Mr Hunt told Sky News: “Lee will always have colourful suggestions, as he always does actually in British politics.
“But the fact of the matter is we will do what it takes to stop the boats and I think we’ve had that clarity from Rishi Sunak.”
Despite the Government’s pledge to “stop the boats”, the Supreme Court ruled last week that those sent to Rwanda would be at “real risk” of being returned home, whether their grounds to claim asylum were justified or not, and that would breach international law.
The Prime Minister has since vowed to draw up emergency legislation to define Rwanda a “safe country” and therefore revive the scheme which has already paid the central African country £140 million.
This comes ahead of the release of new immigration figures which showed that net migration has increased to 672,000 for the year ending June 2023, up from 607,000 in June 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
The latest figure was driven by 968,000 non-EU nationals arriving in the UK taking total immigration to 1.2 million when adding EU and British nationals.
The ONS’s Jay Lindop said: “Net migration to the UK has been running at record levels, driven by a rise in people coming for work, increasing numbers of students and a series of world events.
“Before the pandemic, migration was relatively stable but patterns and behaviours have been shifting considerably since then.
“More recently, we’re not only seeing more students arrive, but we can also see they’re staying for longer. More dependants of people with work and study visas have arrived too, and immigration is now being driven by non-EU arrivals.
“The latest numbers are higher than 12 months ago but are down slightly on our updated figures for year ending December 2022. It is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend.”
The Prime Minister has already introduced a ban on foreign students bringing dependants to the UK which come into effect next year, and has increased visa fees in order to reduce numbers.
