Conservative Chief Suggests Additional Treaty Withdrawals Could Increase Removals
Any upcoming Tory administration would be open to dismantling more international agreements as a means to remove people from the UK, according to a key political figure speaking at the start of a conference centered almost entirely on migration policy.
Plan to Exit Human Rights Treaty
Delivering the initial of a pair of addresses to the gathering in Manchester, the Tory head formally outlined her proposal for the UK to leave the ECHR treaty on human rights as one element of a broader bonfire of safeguards.
These measures include an end to legal aid for migrants and the ability to take migration decisions to courts or legal challenge.
Leaving the ECHR “represents a necessary step, but insufficient on its own to accomplish our objectives,” the leader said. “If there are further treaties and laws we need to amend or reconsider, then we will do so.”
Possible Withdrawal from UN Agreement
A future Conservative government would be open to the possibility of amending or quitting additional international treaties, the leader said, opening the chance of the UK withdrawing from the UN’s 1951 asylum agreement.
The proposal to leave the ECHR was revealed shortly before the conference as one component of a radical and sometimes draconian package of anti-migration policies.
- One pledge that all asylum seekers coming by unofficial routes would be sent to their own or a another country within a seven days.
- A further initiative involves the creation of a “removals unit”, described as being patterned on a semi-militarised immigration body.
- This force would have a mandate to remove 150,000 people a year.
Expanded Removal Measures
During a speech directly after, the prospective home secretary declared that if a non-citizen in the UK “expresses bigotry, including antisemitism, or supports radicalism or violence,” they would be deported.
It was not immediately evident whether this would pertain solely to individuals convicted of a offence for such actions. The Tory group has already promised to remove any UK-based non-citizens found guilty of all but the very lesser violations.
Legal Hurdles and Funding Increase
This prospective minister set out aspects of the proposed removals force, saying it would have twice the budget of the current system.
The unit would be equipped to capitalise of the elimination of many entitlements and paths of challenge for migrants.
“Stripping away the legal obstacles, that I have outlined, and doubling that budget means we can remove 150,000 individuals a year that have zero legal right to be here. This is three-quarters of a million over the duration of the upcoming government.”
NI Challenges and Platform Examination
The leader noted there would be “specific challenges in Northern Ireland”, where the ECHR is embedded in the Belfast accord.
The leader said she would task the prospective Northern Ireland minister “to review this matter”.
The address included no policies that had not already announced, with the speaker restating her mantra that the party had to learn from its last electoral defeat and use opportunity to put together a unified agenda.
The leader continued to take a swipe an earlier mini-budget, stating: “The party will never redo the economic irresponsibility of expenditure commitments without specifying where the money is coming from.”
Focus on Migration and Safety
A great deal of the speeches were focused on immigration, with the prospective home secretary in particular employing large parts of his address to detail a sequence of criminal acts carried out by asylum seekers.
“This is sick. We must do whatever it requires to end this madness,” the shadow minister declared.
The leader took a similarly hard right stance in places, saying the UK had “tolerated the extremist Islamist beliefs” and that the country “cannot import and accept principles hostile to our native”.