‘Stop the boats’: Sunak’s anti-asylum slogan echoes Australia’s harsh policy

In Australia, hostile rhetoric has fuelled a toxic public debate and sought to dehumanise people fleeing harm

Stop the boats." The white-on-red slogan on Rishi Sunak's podium on Tuesday was - word for word - the slogan used by Tony Abbott to win the Australian prime ministership a decade ago.

To Australian audiences, so much of the rhetoric emerging from the UK over its small boats policy is reminiscent of two decades of a toxic domestic debate.