Kemi Badenoch today claimed Britain is ‘being mugged’ by Channel migrants as she said she is ‘likely’ to support quitting the European Convention on Human Rights.
In a major speech, the Tory leader bemoaned the effect of ‘lawfare’ in a number of areas – including on tackling illegal migration, deporting sex offenders, and supporting soldiers and military veterans.
Mrs Badenoch set out her party’s plans to establish a commission to investigate how to exit the ECHR, while the probe will also look at other international treaties.
She blasted the ECHR, which is enforced by Strasbourg-based judges, as being a ‘sword used to attack democratic decisions and common sense’.
‘The ECHR is now being used in ways never intended by its original authors,’ Mrs Badenoch said. ‘It should be a shield to protect. Instead, it’s become a sword.’
The Tory leader highlighted how members of grooming gangs had previously used Article 8 of the ECHR – the right to a family life – to fight their deportation from Britain.
Mrs Badenoch said she believed the UK ‘will likely need to leave’ the ECHR, but warned she ‘won’t commit to leaving without a clear plan to do so’.
‘We saw that holding a referendum without a plan to get Brexit done, led to years of wrangling and endless arguments until we got it sorted in 2019,’ she added. ‘We cannot go through that again.’
The Tory leader could face opposition to her plans from within her frontbench team. One senior shadow minister acknowledged action had to be taken to reduce illegal immigration.
But they told MailOnline that withdrawing from the ECHR would be a mistake due to the ‘complex’ relationship between the convention and the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
Kemi Badenoch claimed Britain is ‘being mugged’ by Channel migrants as she said she is ‘likely’ to support quitting the European Convention on Human Rights
In a major speech, the Tory leader bemoaned the effect of the treaty in a number of areas – including tackling illegal migration, deporting sex offenders, and protecting military veterans
Although Britain left the EU in 2020 it remains a signatory to the ECHR and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights
In an attack on how ‘lawfare is destroying our country’, Mrs Badenoch said of the Channel migrant crisis and the UK’s asylum system: ‘Britain is being mugged.
‘Our asylum system is completely broken and will require a fundamental rebuild so that the British government, not people traffickers, control it.
‘That means a total end to asylum claims in this country by illegal immigrants, and removing immediately all those who arrive illegally and try to claim asylum.
‘We need a new, sustainable system to admit strictly controlled numbers of those in genuine and actual need, with Parliament having the final say, not just on the rules, but the exact numbers coming in.’
The Tory leader acknowledged the ‘reasons why governments have struggled with these issues are very complex’.
‘They are not because of any one particular set of laws or arrangements,’ she said. ‘It is far more than the ECHR.
‘The Refugee Convention has an impact, so does the European Convention Against Trafficking.’
Mrs Badenoch, who took over as Tory leader from ex-PM Rishi Sunak last November, set out her case for quitting the ECHR by saying ‘something needs to change’ as she puts together a new Conservative offer to voters.
‘The more we build our policy programme, the clearer it seems that achieving our objectives means something needs to change,’ she said.
‘I have always said, that if we need to leave the Convention we should. And having now considered the question closely, I do believe that we will likely need to leave.
‘Because I am yet to see a clear and coherent way to fix this within our current legal structures.’
She dismissed recent attempts to try and encourage reform of the ECHR, warning that previous efforts showed ‘the Strasbourg court has shown no real interest in fundamental change’.
Mrs Badenoch explained her commission, being headed by shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson, would examine the ‘unintended consequences’ of quitting the ECHR.
In her address in Westminster, she said: ‘Because it is clear that the ECHR is a major issue, I’m not asking Lord Wolfson if we should leave, that’s a political not a legal question.
‘I’m asking him to set out how we would leave and to consider what the unintended consequences might be, not least, in Northern Ireland, if we decide to go down this route, we must do so knowingly.’
Tory sources said the commission will also examine a rewriting of the Equality Act and Climate Change Act.
The new stance puts the Conservatives on course to include a pledge to quit the ECHR in their next general election manifesto, creating clear blue water with Labour.
Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial Attorney General, Lord Hermer, has said Labour will ‘never’ quit the ECHR.
He was forced to apologise last week for likening those in favour of the move to Nazis.
Mrs Badenoch has set the commission five ‘common sense’ tests for assessing whether human rights laws are getting in the way of vital reforms.
The deportation test will assess whether Parliament, rather than the international courts, is able to determine who comes to the UK and is allowed to stay here.
A second ‘veterans test’ would examine whether the current legal framework allows ministers to ‘stop our veterans being endlessly pursued by vexatious legal attacks’ using human rights laws.
A ‘fairness test’ will look at whether the authorities can ‘put British citizens first in social housing and in receiving scarce public services’.
A ‘justice test’ will look at the impact of human rights laws on the ability of the police to deal with issues like the disruptive protests staged by eco-activists.
And a ‘prosperity test’ will examine whether treaties would prevent the Government from ditching costly climate change measures and cutting red tape holding back economic development.
Mrs Badenoch argued these were ‘basic tests of whether we are still a sovereign nation able to make our own laws and govern ourselves’.
‘If the commission makes clear that these tests cannot be passed under the current system then the system must change, she added.
‘If international treaties, including the ECHR, block us and there is no realistic prospect of changing them then we leave. No hesitation. No apology.’
Although Britain left the EU in 2020 it remains a signatory to the ECHR and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
The ECHR was incorporated into law in Labour’s 1998 Human Rights Act, allowing people to bring cases in the British courts.
The commission will look at the issues involved in leaving, such as how to avoid destabilising the Good Friday Agreement, which includes a commitment to the ECHR.
Mrs Badenoch will set out whether she plans to leave the ECHR at the Tory conference in October, when the investigation will report back.
Elsewhere, the head of the Council of Europe warned that rising migration may result in changes to how the ECHR operates.
Alain Berset, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, told The Times: ‘We are witnessing a world where things are changing rapidly.
‘It is accelerating. We see this, and it means that it is normal that we must also adapt to this. We need adaptation.
‘We need discussion about the rules that we want to have, and there is no taboo.’
Downing Street welcomed discussion about changing how the ECHR operates.
Asked about Mr Berset’s remarks, a No 10 spokesman said: ‘Border security is vital to national security, and we welcome efforts to ensure the ECHR is being applied correctly and allowing countries to protect their borders.
‘It’s important there is discussion on how the ECHR operates to ensure it can safeguard human rights while meeting the needs of democracies.
‘The Prime Minister has been clear on this, it should be Parliament that makes the rules on immigration and Government that makes the policy.
‘That’s why this Government is actually taking action on the ECHR.
‘Our immigration white paper sets out new plans through legislation to tighten the application of the ECHR, giving courts the clarity they need so our immigration rules are no longer abused.
‘And, as the PM has said, we want to ensure the right balance is made in migration cases in relation to the national interest.’
