Tory civil war rages over immigration as Rishi Sunak is accused of ‘willy-waving’ over threat to pull UK out of European human rights rules to make it easier to remove Channel migrants
- Fears raised that the number crossing the Channel could reach 65,000 in 2023
- A more than 50 per cent increase on the record of 45,000 who crossed in 2022
- MP Jackie Doyle-Price said ‘willy-waving about leaving the ECHR will do zilch’
Rishi Sunak has been accused of ‘willy-waving’ over a threat to pull out of European human rights rules to make it easier to deport Channel migrants.
Tory backbenchers raised concerns after it was reported yesterday that the Prime Minister was considering removing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
It came amid fears that the number crossing the Channel could reach 65,000 in 2023, a more than 50 per cent increase on the record of 45,000 who crossed in 2022.
The Sunday Times reported that he was prepared to pass domestic legislation and then dare the ECHR in Strasbourg to rule against it, with a source saying: ‘If that’s the case, then of course he will be willing to reconsider whether being part of the ECHR is in the UK’s long-term interests.’
But in Tory WhatsApp messages seen by the Politico website, Tory backbenchers questioned such a move. The ECHR was set up after the Second World War by politicians including Winston Churchill.
Jackie Doyle-Price, the Thurrock MP who was a minister under Liz Truss and Theresa May, said ‘willy waving about leaving the ECHR will do zilch’.
The move, which would lump Britain with Russia and Belarus as countries to exit the legal framework, cane amid fears that the number crossing the Channel could reach 65,000 in 2023.
Jackie Doyle-Price, the Thurrock MP who was a minister under Liz Truss and Theresa May, said ‘willy waving about leaving the ECHR will do zilch’, adding: ‘This group leaves me cold. Upholding the law should never be a matter for debate for a Conservative.
She added: ‘This group leaves me cold. Upholding the law should never be a matter for debate for a Conservative.
‘Our Home Office is crap. If the government wants to have a phone[y] war over the ECHR instead of sorting itself out it can do it without me.’
In an interview to mark his first 100 days in office, the PM told Piers Morgan last week that his blueprint for overhauling the system would see asylum claims heard in ‘days or weeks’.
Business secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday: ‘What we can’t have is boats arriving here with illegal gangs and gang masters people trafficking people here and to be impotent in return.
‘So Rishi is absolutely right to apply the full force of the law to stop this illegal trade in human misery.
‘And I think he is absolutely right to pursue that and I think he’s right to make sure we can change the law, something by the way Labour vote against at every single opportunity, they don’t want to stop the small boats and we do.’
Ministers have made stopping the flow of small boats crossing the Channel a top priority, with Tory MPs warning that failure to get a grip will be disastrous at the next election.
They are drawing up plans to block Channel migrants from lodging legal challenges against deportation.
Mr Sunak has already outlined how the Government intends to automatically bar migrants from claiming asylum as part of his pledge to ‘stop the boats’.
But extra measures are being drafted to strip back migrants’ ability to launch judicial reviews or appeals.
Two separate sets of proposals are being drawn up, the Times reported, which are likely to pit ministers in a major battle with the courts.
The first – and most radical – option would prevent all small boat migrants from submitting a judicial review of their exclusion from the asylum system.
The second proposal would only allow legal challenges to be lodged once the migrant has been removed from the UK, a process known as ‘out-of-country appeals’.
