Piers Morgan Says Bet With Rishi Sunak Not Settled As First Rwanda Flight Takes Off

Journalist Piers Morgan said his bet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is not settled because the first deportee was a volunteer, after a viewer told him to “cough up.”

Morgan placed the wager before Sunak during an exclusive Piers Morgan Uncensored interview which aired in February, betting Sunak that the government would fail to initiate deportation flights under his Rwanda policy before the 2024 General Election.

On Tuesday, however, as the government released footage of the first asylum seekers being deported to the African country under its voluntary deportation programme.

Morgan pushed back on calls that he should pay up: “I don’t think the bet alluded to people of African origin voluntarily getting on a commercial plane back to Africa with £3k of UK taxpayer cash.”

Indeed, the first asylum seekers were voluntarily relocated to Rwanda on Monday under a new removals initiative that offers migrants up to £3,000 to move to the East African nation after their asylum claims are rejected.

This program is distinct from the forced deportation policy introduced by the government two years ago, which has faced numerous setbacks and is scheduled to start by mid-July.