JUST four in 100 people in the UK have any confidence at all that Rishi Sunak can keep one of his key pledges and stop the small boat crossings of the Channel.
The Prime Minister laid out what critics called his “five flimsy promises” in a new year’s speech on Wednesday, pledging to halve inflation, cut UK debt, grow the economy, cut NHS waiting lists, and “stop the boats”.
While things such as economic growth, NHS waiting lists falling, and inflation halving are expected to happen anyway, there have been questions about what Sunak meant by his pledge to stop the boats.
The Prime Minister quickly poured cold water on expectations of what he can achieve, saying that the challenges would not be tackled “overnight, or even in this Parliament".
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And the UK public appears to agree with Sunak’s assessment, as just 4% said they were “completely” or “fairly” confident that he could stop the small boat crisis.
In contrast, a clear majority (57%) said they were “not confident at all” in Sunak’s ability to stop the small boat crossings.
That majority holds even among Conservative voters (52%) and grows among Labour voters (72%).
The issue has spiralled out of control since Brexit, with some 45,728 people crossing the Channel in small boats in 2022, according to UK Government figures.
In 2021, some 28,526 people attempted the crossing, in 2020 that number was 8500. And in 2019, before Brexit officially kicked in, just 1800 people attempted the crossing.
The survey of 1269 British adults was conducted on January 4 by People’s Polling for GB News.
Politics professor Matt Goodwin said: “This week Rishi Sunak identified resolving the small boats crisis as a priority for his government in 2023. But our numbers show he has an enormous amount of work to do.
“Most voters have no confidence in the government on this issue, which we should remember is the third top issue for all voters and the second top issue for Conservatives.
“Unless Rishi Sunak can change these numbers it really will be game over at the next General Election. Make no mistake. It’s now make or break on immigration.”
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