Conservative Leader Suggests More Agreement Exits Might Increase Deportations

Any upcoming Conservative government could be open to dismantling more global treaties as a method to remove people from the UK, according to a key party figure addressing at the start of a gathering focused nearly exclusively on migration strategy.

Plan to Exit Human Rights Treaty

Making the first of a pair of speeches to the assembly in Manchester, the Tory head officially set out her plan for the UK to leave the ECHR convention on rights as one element of a broader bonfire of protections.

These measures involve an end to legal aid for foreign nationals and the ability to take immigration rulings to tribunals or legal challenge.

Exiting the European convention “represents a essential step, but insufficient on its own to achieve our goals,” the leader said. “If there are other treaties and regulations we must to revise or reconsider, then we will do so.”

Potential Withdrawal from UN Convention

The future Conservative government would be amenable to the possibility of changing or leaving other international agreements, she said, opening the possibility of the UK leaving the UN’s 1951 refugee agreement.

The proposal to leave the ECHR was announced shortly before the event as part of a radical and at times strict set of immigration-control measures.

  • A pledge that every refugees arriving by unofficial means would be sent to their home or a third nation within a week.
  • A further initiative involves the creation of a “deportation unit”, billed as being patterned on a quasi-military immigration agency.
  • This force would have a mandate to remove 150,000 individuals a annually.

Extended Removal Policies

In a address directly following, the shadow home secretary said that if a non-citizen in the UK “expresses bigotry, including antisemitism, or backs radicalism or terrorism,” they would be deported.

It was not immediately evident whether this would pertain only to individuals convicted of a offence for these actions. This Tory party has already promised to remove any UK-based non-citizens found guilty of almost all the most minor offences.

Judicial Hurdles and Funding Increase

The prospective minister detailed particulars of the proposed removals unit, saying it would have twice the budget of the existing system.

The unit would be able to capitalise of the elimination of numerous entitlements and avenues of appeal for migrants.

“Removing away the legal obstacles, that I have described, and increasing that funding enables we can remove 150,000 individuals a annually that have zero legal entitlement to be here. That is three-quarters of a million over the course of the upcoming government.”

NI Challenges and Policy Examination

This leader said there would be “particular challenges in Northern Ireland”, where the European convention is embedded in the Good Friday accord.

The leader indicated she would get the prospective Northern Ireland secretary “to review this matter”.

The speech contained no proposals that had not been already announced, with the speaker restating her message that the group needed to learn from its last election defeat and use opportunity to develop a cohesive agenda.

The leader went on to take a swipe an earlier mini-budget, saying: “We will not redo the financial irresponsibility of spending commitments without saying where the funds is coming from.”

Emphasis on Migration and Security

Much of the addresses were concentrated on immigration, with the shadow minister in particular employing significant sections of his speech to detail a sequence of criminal acts carried out by refugees.

“This is sick. We must do everything it requires to stop this madness,” he declared.

This speaker took a similarly hard right stance in places, saying the UK had “allowed the extremist religious ideology” and that the nation “cannot bring in and accept values hostile to our own”.

Sean Daniels
Sean Daniels

A seasoned financial analyst with over a decade of experience in wealth management and investment strategies.