Priti Patel has said her record as home secretary “speaks volumes” as the senior Tory figure made clear that she wants to stay on in the role when Boris Johnson’s successor enters No 10 next month.
The cabinet minister – who has not backed either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak for the Tory leadership – set out her case on Tuesday when asked about the next PM.
Asked if she wanted to remain in her role at the Home Office, the controversial figure told Sky News: “That’s the choice of the next leader.”
Ms Patel went to say: “But the fact of the matter is this party was elected with a very clear manifesto commitment to beat crime, cut crime, but also deliver 20,000 more police officers.”
The home secretary, in post since Mr Johnson won power in July 2019, added: “I think my record in that time speaks volumes.”
Patel said she was “of course” sad to see Johnson leave Downing Street, but would not be drawn on who should win the Tory race. “I’m not getting into any of that … I mean I’ve got a job to do. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Patel – speaking at the dawn police raid on an alleged “kingpin” wanted on drugs and gun charges – was asked the low points of her three years in charge.
“The serious lows? Absolutely when people have died,” she said. “You see appalling violence against our police officers. My second week as home secretary we saw the appalling case of PC Andrew Harper. That will live with me forever.”
Labour have accused the Tories of presiding over a “decade-long failure to tackle knife crime”, with analysis showing offences have doubled among one-third of police forces since 2010.
There are growing concerns about a rise in violent crime following the death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel – shot by a gunman entering her family home in Liverpool – and the fatal stabbing of 87-year-old Thomas O’Halloran while on his mobility scooter in west London.
Patel’s comments also come as the latest government figures showed that a record 1,295 migrants arrived in the UK on Monday after crossing the English Channel.
Campaigners again called on Patel and the Home Office to drop plans to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda in a bid to curb crossings – saying the figures showed that the deterrent argument was in “tatters”.
So far in August, 6,271 people have been recorded making the crossing – higher than any monthly total for the year so far.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are challenging the legality of the Rwanda policy, with the next court hearings due in September.
The PCS’s Paul O’Connor said: “The home secretary has spent months attempting to justify her Rwanda policy by claiming that it is a deterrent.”
The union official added: “The fact that exploited refugees are still attempting these dangerous crossings leaves the home secretary’s argument in tatters. The policy is not a deterrent. It is simply immoral, unlawful and unworkable, and should be dropped immediately.”
Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International UK said: “The simple truth is that people including children fleeing war and persecution will continue to make these perilous journeys … if the government refuses to provide safe routes for them.”
Both Truss and Sunak have pledged to push on with the Rwanda “offshoring” policy. The ex-chancellor said on Tuesday that he “will do whatever it takes to make the Rwanda plan work”.
Responding to the small boat crossing figures, a government spokesman said: “The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable. Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they risk the lives of vulnerable people, who are being exploited by ruthless criminal gangs.”
On the partnership with Rwanda, the spokesman said: “We are continuing preparations to relocate those who make these unnecessary and illegal journeys, helping to save lives by deterring others from crossing.”
