A CONSERVATIVE candidate in the general election says he is disappointed comments he made in private – criticising government’s Rwanda policy – were secretly recorded.
James Sunderland, whose Bracknell constituency included parts of Wokingham Borough at the time of making his comments, told people at a private event in April the plan to fly migrants to the African nation to have their asylum claim processed was not a good one.
“The policy is crap,” he is heard to say in recordings obtained by the BBC of comments he made at a Young Conservatives event.
At the time, he was an aide to Home Secretary James Cleverly and is standing for the redrawn Bracknell constituency, which includes parts of Crowthorne.
The BBC reports he also said: “I have been part of this for the last two years, and I’m immersed in it and I probably shouldn’t say too much.
“What I would say to you is that – nobody has got their cameras on, their phones – the policy is crap, OK? It’s crap.”
He went on to say the policy would have second- or third-order effects.
“In Australia, for example, a similar policy had a devastating effect. There is no doubt at all that when those first flights take off that it will send such a shockwave across the Channel that the gangs will stop,” he said.
And of his colleagues, he said: “If you go out and do what Jonathan Gullis does, or Brendan Clarke Smith, or Lee Anderson, go out and just court controversy, you polarise opinion. I don’t want that.”
Of himself he said: “I’m not saying stupid things. I’m not on the front page of the newspaper. I’m doing my job. I can commend hard work.”
Speaking to the BBC about the recordings coming to light with less than a fortnight to go until the July 4 general election, Mr Sunderland said he had been answering questions candidly.
“I was talking about the response to the policy. The policy itself is not the be all and end all but part of a wider response,” he continued.
“I never criticise colleagues publicly but was asked about the resignations of colleagues from party posts. I honestly answered that we do not need unnecessary rhetoric and division in public life.”
Earlier this month, Tom Pursglove, Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery, said: “Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan to take the bold action to bring down migration with an immigration cap and give Parliament a direct role in setting the levels of migration for the first time ever. We will continue to take the long-term decisions for a brighter future and managed migration flows.”
There are seven candidates standing in the Bracknell contituency in the general election: Olivio Barreto (Independent), Katie Mansfield (Liberal Democrat), Jason Reardon (Heritage Party), James Sunderland (Conservative), Peter Swallow (Labour), Emily Torode (Green), and Malcolm Tullett (Reform UK).
