But government sources accused Mr Sunak of misleading Tory members about his support for Brexit policies, telling The Telegraph he had tried to block Ms Truss’ legislation affecting the Northern Ireland Protocol – and that it opposes efforts to implement reforms, such as repealing EU rules governing VAT.
Mr Sunak’s immigration plans set a marker for Ms Truss, who said on Saturday she would seek more Rwanda-style deals and increase the number of border force officers, but is expected to reveal her full proposals for immigration on monday.
It comes as The Telegraph reveals Mrs Truss has pledged to wade into the “fire of the quangos”, saying she will divert hundreds of millions of pounds from “red tape” to frontline services.
The first live televised debate between the two candidates will take place on Monday, as well as the first party battles on Thursday. On Saturday, a poll found that 58 percent of Conservative Party voters could see themselves supporting the party under Ms. Truss, compared with 52 percent under Mr. Sunak.
So far, the main dividing line between Mr. Sunak and Ms. Truss has been the economy. In the latest spate of clashes on Saturday, the former chancellor described the foreign secretary’s plan for immediate tax cuts as “immoral”, while Simon Clarke, who was Mr Sunak’s deputy at the Treasury, accused his former boss’s campaign of trading “fear of projects”. .
On Saturday, Mr Sunak also tried to cast himself as the “underdog” in the contest after Ms Truss described herself to The Telegraph as a “rebel candidate”. He stated: “The powers that be want this to be a coronation for the other candidate.”
“The system is messed up”
On immigration, writing in The Telegraph, Mr Sunak said: “In 2016 I supported and voted for Brexit because I believed we could do things differently. We needed a change of thinking not only about what we could not do while in the European Union, but also about what we did not do.
“Taking control of our borders and dealing with the flow of illegal migration was at the top of that list.”
But he adds: “The truth is we still haven’t dealt with the problem… The system is a mess.”
Drawing on his own family history, Mr Sunack says his grandparents’ experience since arriving 60 years ago is testament to how “Britain is a generous, ambitious and compassionate country”.
In the US, Donald Trump introduced an annual ceiling of 15,000 refugee admissions, which was increased by Joe Biden to 62,500.
The UK offered asylum, humanitarian protection or “alternative forms of leave and resettlement” to 14,734 people last year, according to government figures.
Sunak’s campaign said his hat would be decided by MPs.
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