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The prime minister has faced criticism from opposition parties,
who said the bet with the broadcaster Piers Morgan was
distasteful and showed he was out of touch with the concerns of
ordinary voters.
Under the Rwanda plan, which has yet to be carried out, asylum
seekers who arrive on England's southern coast in small,
inflatable boats will be sent to Rwanda.
On Tuesday, Sunak said he had been caught off guard by the offer
of the bet, but stopped short of admitting it was a mistake.
"I am not a betting person, and I was taken totally by surprise
in that interview," he told the BBC. "The point I was trying to
get across – I was taken totally by surprise – was actually
about the Rwanda policy and about tackling illegal migration,
which is something I care deeply about."
So far, no asylum seekers have been sent to Rwanda because the
plan has been blocked by the courts.
The government is currently trying to pass legislation through
parliament that would declare Rwanda a safe country for asylum
seekers in an effort to overcome the legal block by the courts.
The opposition Labour Party said the bet made by the wealthiest
British prime minister showed he did not understand the
challenges faced by voters facing rising mortgages and food
bills, while a senior politician in the Scottish National Party
called the bet "depraved".
Asked if he understood the financial pressures facing ordinary
households, Sunak said first priority was reducing inflation
because the cost of living crisis was the most pressing problem
most families faced.
($1 = 0.7967 pounds)
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Alistair Smout)
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