The UK’s continued membership of a Europe-wide human rights treaty is on the table for the Tories as they set out a “new approach” to immigration, Kemi Badenoch has signalled.
Ahead of the latest migration figures being published on Thursday, the Conservative leader suggested she was willing to change in her position on the UK’s membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
During the Conservative leadership election, Mrs Badenoch said leaving the treaty would not be a “silver bullet” to end high net migration.
But in speech in Westminster on Wednesday afternoon, she suggested she was willing to consider leaving the ECHR, a policy championed by her rival for the Tory leadership Robert Jenrick.
The Leader of the Opposition described the current immigration system as “broken”, adding: “We have to get the diagnosis right. So we will review every policy, treaty and part of our legal framework – including the ECHR and the Human Rights Act.”
The ECHR is key to UK human rights law, and has been used to halt attempts to deport unauthorised migrants from the UK.
She also hinted the Tories may need to go further in their approach, telling reporters at the event: “It’s not even the most radical thing that we probably will have to do.
“But if we’re going to leave the ECHR, we need to have a plan, not just reforms. There is a lot more that is going on in our immigration system beyond the ECHR.”
The Tory leader said there had been a “collective failure of political leaders from all parties over decades” to grasp migration, and owned up to the Conservatives’ part in this.
She added: “On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I as the new leader accept responsibility, and say truthfully we got this wrong.
“I more than understand the public anger on this issue. I share it.”
While Mrs Badenoch did not make any concrete policy commitments in her speech, she said the Conservatives would be mulling over plans for a “strict numerical cap, with visas only for those who will make a substantial and clear overall contribution”.
Asked why she would not reveal what the upper limit of her migration cap would be, the Tory leader suggested she wanted a detailed plan in place first.
In a glancing blow at Sir Keir Starmer’s legal background, Ms Badenoch added: “I’m not somebody who just talks. I’m not a lawyer. I’m an engineer. Before we say things, we have to have a proper plan about how we deliver on the cap.”
Immigration has been too high.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) November 27, 2024
Under my leadership, the Conservatives will be taking a new approach👇 pic.twitter.com/EUO0dobm5q
Her shadow home secretary Chris Philp added the Tories would make sure theirs was a “cap that bites”, after it was put to him previous migration caps did not help with public trust in politics.
Mrs Badenoch also promised to publish more migration data “so that for the first time everyone can see the real costs and benefits of different types of migration”.
“Zero tolerance for foreign criminals remaining in the UK” and an “effective deterrent for illegal migration” – such as the now scrapped Rwanda plan – are also ideas the Tories are considering.
The Tory leader said Thursday’s migration data – the latest to be published by the Home Office – will “likely show a reduction in net immigration”.
She claimed the Labour Government would try to take credit for this, adding: “But that change is due to the reforms that the Conservatives made in our final months in power.”
Responding to the speech, Home Office minister Angela Eagle said: “It’s welcome the Tories finally accept that immigration spiralled out of control on their watch. But Kemi Badenoch offers no new ideas or alternative to her party’s failed policies of the past.
“The Conservatives wasted hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayers’ cash on the Rwanda gimmick, and it’s clear they would do it all over again. The Tories have learned nothing.
“Labour is fixing the foundations and getting a grip on the Tories’ immigration chaos. Our new Border Security Command is working with our European partners to smash the criminal gang networks driving small boat crossings, and we’re ramping up the removal of people with no right to be in the UK.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage meanwhile said: “The Conservative Party have broken their promises on immigration after the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 manifestos.
“Why on earth would I or anyone else believe them now.”
