Tory MPs to push for UK to leave European Convention on Human Rights | Conservatives

Tory MPs are set to step up efforts to get the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), amid reports that Rishi Sunak is planning to do so to enable a crackdown severe migration.

The proposals were backed by Home Secretary Suella Braverman during her leadership campaign over the summer.

The Guardian was told the policy was being pushed by a number of ministers, several of whom said they would like to see it part of the Tory manifesto if it cannot be signed into law before the next election.

The decision to withdraw the UK from the ECHR without an electoral mandate is likely to cause deep consternation in parts of the party – and would also face challenges in the House of Lords.

Sunak is reportedly considering the controversial move as he prepares to draft new legislation to curb migration, which will ban anyone who comes to the UK irregularly from applying for asylum and then deport them as soon as possible, although that the UK currently has a large backlog. A new immigration bill is expected to be tabled within weeks.

The move would be considered if the courts strike down this legislation, The Sunday Times reported. Sources admitted that would be unlikely before the next election.

In June last year, the first flight deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda was abandoned after a dramatic 11-hour intervention by the ECHR, which adjudicates individual or state petitions alleging civil rights violations. and policies set out in the European Convention.

Simon Clarke, the former cabinet minister, said it was “completely fair” to consider a pullout. “It is a fundamental matter of trust and competence that we should very significantly curb illegal immigration to the UK.

“We hear a lot about how the UK played a key role in the development of the convention, but the issues currently in dispute under the ECHR were not considered after the Second World War. Our human rights architecture is being exploited by criminals to endanger the lives of desperate people.

“We also hear a lot about how leaving the ECHR would embolden our opponents. With respect, I don’t believe Putin will be swayed in his madness by whether or not we join the convention. Moreover, our actions in defense of freedom are the ultimate measure of our values.

Leaked messages last week in a WhatsApp group of Conservative MPs showed ‘red wall’ MPs complaining that they could never enforce Rwanda’s policy of deporting refugees if they did not leave the ECHR. In messages reported by Sky News, Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, said legislation promised by the Government “would not stop level crossings”.

And Dudley North MP Marco Longhi said the ECHR “trumps everything and our own colleagues want to keep it even if it poses a security risk to Britons, as we have just seen… We will be massacred in the homes of the inhabitants and at the G. E. »

But others have warned of a backlash. Sir Bob Neill, Tory chairman of the Commons Justice Committee, told the FT: “If the Tories don’t believe in the rule of law, what do we believe in? Are we going to put ourselves in the same company as Russia and Belarus?

Others who are likely to balk at the idea of ​​leaving the convention include Development Minister Andrew Mitchell and former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland.