Politics class: Rishi Sunak’s immigration conundrum

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Specification:

• AQA Component 1, Section 3.1.1.3: The Prime Minister and Cabinet

• Edexcel Component 2, Section 3.3.2: The Prime Minister and the Cabinet

Background: what you need to know

A discussion on current problems facing the Conservative government. Among these, the problem of controlling immigration receives the most attention. Rishi Sunak and his Conservative predecessors have pledged to reduce overall immigration figures yet the numbers continue rising.

The government faces a conundrum: the political imperative that it has imposed on itself, to show toughness on immigration, is at odds with the economic need for more labour from abroad. This problem has enabled the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, to depict the government as incompetent.

Click the link below to listen to the podcast and then answer the questions:

Rishi Sunak’s immigration conundrum

Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 1

• ‘The UK Prime Minister and Cabinet have limited power to dictate events and determine policymaking.’ Analyse and evaluate this statement.

  In your answer you should draw on material from across the whole range of your course of study in Politics. [25 marks]

Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 2

• Evaluate the argument that the UK Prime Minister and Cabinet lack effective power to dictate events and determine policy.

  In your answer you should draw on relevant knowledge and understanding of the study of Component 1: UK politics and core political ideas. You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way. [30 marks]

  TIP: A relevant Component 1 topic is Voting behaviour. The ability of political parties to win elections depends heavily on voters’ perception of governing competence.

Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School