A failure to tackle the issue of small boat crossings in the English Channel would be destructive to people’s faith in politicians and government, David Cameron has claimed. In comments aimed at rebellious Tory backbenchers unhappy with Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda legislation, Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, said it was the “best bill to get the job done”. The former Conservative leader, who was brought back into government by the prime minister last month, also said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that Iran was “a thoroughly malign” geopolitical influence. Britain and its allies needed to develop a strong set of deterrent measures against Iran, he said, adding that Tehran supported Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen – and it has also backed militias in Iraq who have been attacking British and US bases. He added: “And, of course, Hamas. So you’ve got all of these proxies, and I think it’s incredibly important that, first of all, Iran receives an incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated. On domestic matters, Cameron said he believed the Foreign Office could be more involved in helping to deliver Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”. Cameron said it could “get migration dialogues going with countries where some of their citizens are coming in small boats to Britain, and we should help”. “Having very visible illegal migration is incredibly destructive to a country’s legal migration and immigration system, and it’s also destructive to people’s view of the ability of politicians and governments to act on their behalf,” he added. Sunak narrowly avoided a major rebellion by rightwing Conservative MPs earlier this month when they abstained on his controversial Rwanda bill.
But the prime minister faces further peril in the new year, while some MPs have warned that he must strengthen the safety of Rwanda bill or face it being voted down when it returns to the Commons in early January. The bill would empower ministers to ignore temporary injunctions raised by the European court of human rights that can stop flights taking off, but it does not set aside the European convention on human rights entirely. In a reference to some of the terms that sceptical Tory MPs have used to describe the legislation, Cameron insisted: “It’s the best bill to get the job done, and I think it’s a mistake to think in terms of ‘ooh, is it full fat or half fat?’ It’s designed to deliver the policy.” In an area where he continues to face questions about his own suitability for the job, Cameron also insisted that “things have changed” since what was referred to as a supposed “golden era” of relations between Britain and China when he was prime minister.
“There’s still a need to engage with China, particularly over issues like climate change – we can’t solve problems of climate change while ignoring a fifth of humanity,” said Cameron, who has been under pressure over his links to Chinese business interests after he stepped down as prime minister. He added: “But quite clearly, we face a more aggressive, assertive China, and so the other elements are of policy – how we protect ourselves with more hardened security against things like cyber-attacks and the rest of it, and how we align ourselves with our allies so that we are strong together.”