Rwanda Asylum Plan To Smoking Ban, 3 Controversies During Rishi Sunak's Term As PM 

The United Kingdom will vote in a historic general election called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with his Conservative Party facing arguably its toughest challenge in recent history from the opposition Labour party.

If Mr Sunak's party fails to get a majority in the July 4 polls, it will draw the curtain on 14 years of the Conservative rule, further ushering in a center-left government of the Labour party, led by former barrister Keir Starmer.

Rishi Sunak, the first British-Asian Prime Minister to hold the office, assumed the post on October 25, 2022. Despite his historic appointment, the 44-year-old faced multiple challenges and has been under scrutiny for various decisions.

Here's a look at the three major controversies from the Sunak's term:

1. Rwanda asylum plan

In April 2022, the UK government said that any asylum seeker "illegally" entering the country after January 1, 2022, will be sent to Rwanda. These people will have their asylum claims processed there and not in the UK.

The successful ones will be granted refugee status and allowed to stay in the African country, while others may apply in Rwanda on other grounds, or further seek asylum in another "safe third country," BBC reported. The government also clarified that none of these asylum seekers could apply to return to the UK.

In 2024, a total of 11,247 people crossed the English Channel until June 11, reports said, way above the numbers during the same period in the last four years.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said he will scrap the scheme if his party wins the election.

2. Smoking ban

In April this year, the UK House of Commons voted to advance the “Tobacco and Vapes Bill”, which would make it illegal for anyone born in or after 2009 to buy tobacco and further add restrictions to vaping.

While Sunak was left "disappointed" that the bill would not pass before the general election, two of his predecessors -- Boris Johnson and Liz Truss -- publicly criticised him for the same.

“The party of Winston Churchill wants to ban [cigars]? Donnez-moi un break, as they say in Quebec. It's just mad," CNN quoted Mr Johnson as saying.

Ms Truss, meanwhile, has called the ban a “virtue-signalling piece of legislation.” Besides them, several other leaders from the ruling party have criticised Sunak over the bill.

3. Freedom of information

Earlier this year, Rishi Sunak courted controversy after it emerged that he was presiding over the least transparent government for 25 years. The rate of freedom of information (FoI) requests granted in full witnessed a major decline in 2023.

As per the data, the Sunak-led government allowed only 34% of such requests last year.

This was significantly lower compared to 41% during Boris Johnson's first full year as the UK PM, 46% under Theresa May (2017), 56% in 2011 under David Cameron and 60% in the first full year of Gordon Brown (2008).