Tory immigration policy: Kemi Badenoch unveils review into leaving ECHR
Kemi Badenoch has used a major speech on immigration to announce a review into the UK leaving the European Court of Human Rights.
In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in Westminster, the Conservative leader announced a “lawfare commission” whilst slamming “a legal culture that’s become more interested in political activism than public interest”.
Her shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson KC – alongside shadow solicitor general Helen Grant – is in charge of establishing the Tory position on the ECHR.
Badenoch said: “They will work fast. They will be forensic.”
She laid out five “simple tests” for the Conservatives to assess their policy: government control of deportations, alleged lawfare against veterans, “fairness” around social housing, and control over prison sentences and climate policy.
The Tory chief insisted that she is not asking Wolfson to decide one way or another – as “that’s a political and not a legal question” – but that this is an opportunity to scope out the logistics and knock on effects of a potential ECHR exit.
“I’m asking him to set out how we would leave and to consider what the intended consequences might be, not least in Northern Ireland.”
Questions remain surrounding the exact mechanics of the review, particularly in Badenoch’s caveat that “my whole shadow cabinet will be involved”.
Chasing Farage?
Badenoch’s speech ranged from grooming gangs to Chelsea Pensioners and the row over Starmer’s attorney general Lord Hermer, who apologised for a “clumsy” remark that appeared to compare those advocating for curbs on international human rights law to Nazis.
She said: “While he may have apologised, it is quite clear that this is what he believes.”
“The ECHR is now being used in ways never intended by its original authors. It should be a shield to protect. Instead, it’s become a sword, a sword used to attack democratic decisions and common sense.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “Kemi Badenoch’s review is nothing more than a desperate attempt to appease Robert Jenrick and Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
“If she’s so certain in her approach, why didn’t the Conservatives make these changes when they had the chance in Government, rather than simply booting them into the long grass.”
When the review was first trailed yesterday, Reform UK’s social media team was quick off the blocks to slam Lord Wolfson’s previous stances on the court, clipping a video from a House of Lords speech in which he said: “I support our membership”.