Reform ECHR if Rwanda flights blocked, senior Tories warn

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) must be reformed if it is used to block deportation flights to Rwanda, senior Tories on the centrist wing of the party have warned.

Damian Green and Matt Warman, the chairman and leading member of the One Nation caucus, said the treaty must not be used to obstruct Rishi Sunak’s flagship migration plan after it finally became law earlier this week.

One Nation MPs have long defended the ECHR against criticisms from the Right of the party and insist the Rwanda scheme cannot breach international law.

However, Mr Green and Mr Warman said the Government must be “ready to take a leading role” in reforming the court if it stepped in to scupper removal flights.

The most senior judge at the European Court of Human Rights, which oversees the convention, has previously warned Mr Sunak’s scheme could fall foul of the convention.

Writing for The Telegraph, the former ministers said: “Despite empty noise from the Left, Parliament has delivered on its part of the bargain and passed the Bill.

“Now it is time for the Home Office to step up and do its part too, ensuring officials do all they can to get flights off the ground and deliver on the British people’s priorities.

“This should not be prevented by international courts, and if the ECHR chooses to intervene, then the Conservative Government must be ready to take a leading role in reforming and improving the court to ensure it is fit for purpose.”

At a press conference this week, Mr Sunak revealed plans to get the first flights off to Rwanda in the next 10 to 12 weeks after admitting parliamentary delays meant he would miss a previous spring deadline.

Mr Sunak said his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was “more important” than “membership of any foreign court”.

Leaving the convention has become a key demand of senior figures on the Tory Right who believe it is the only way the Government can stop illegal Channel crossings.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, believes Britain should quit the ECHR with immediate effect, while Robert Jenrick, who was Mrs Braverman’s immigration minister, has called on the Conservatives to fight the next general election on the issue.

Mr Green and Mr Warman also urged colleagues to fall in line behind Mr Sunak and focus solely on defeating Sir Keir Starmer and Labour at the next national polls.

The Tories are currently predicted to lose as many as half of their councillors contesting in Thursday’s local elections. A poor performance is likely to trigger fresh speculation about Mr Sunak’s future in Downing Street as his party trails Labour by around 20 points in the polls.

In an appeal for cool heads regardless of the result, Mr Green and Mr Warman said voters on the doorstep too often asked “what are you lot playing at?” and had a “universal request to unite and get on with governing”.

“Without that, no messages will cut through,” they wrote. “We have proven that by working together as a party, sticking to the plan and putting more money in ordinary people’s pockets, that we are able to keep the UK on the path to prosperity and security.

“We mustn’t forget that the only way the Conservatives can continue to deliver for voters is by uniting behind a single cause – stopping Keir Starmer and his band of tax and spenders from entering No 10 after the general election.”

Critics of Mr Sunak have previously singled out the aftermath of the May 2 local elections as a potential inflection point as Right-wing MPs consider a plot to oust him, with Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, emerging as their preferred candidate.

Only two Tory backbenchers – Sir Simon Clarke and Dame Andrea Jenkyns – have publicly demanded his resignation to date, while even many vocal opponents of Mr Sunak have privately acknowledged the public is likely to have no appetite for a fourth Conservative prime minister in the space of a single parliament.

Unity is the only way forward for the Conservatives

by Damian Green and Matt Warman

They’re the words every politician wants to hear when they knock on a voter’s door: “I know who you are”.

They might – and often do – mean that hard work has been noticed. Out campaigning recently, though, they’re now frequently followed by one common question: “What are you lot playing at?”

And for all the fact that Conservatives are cutting taxes, increasing defence spending, building hospitals and increasing access to GPs, there’s a universal request – unite and get on with governing. Without that, no messages will cut through.

This week, Parliament passed landmark legislation to get flights off the ground to Rwanda. Despite the doubts of the Left-wing armchair politicians, the Prime Minister walked across what they called an impossible tightrope and passed the toughest legislation on illegal immigration in history.

Unlike Labour, we have a plan to tackle illegal immigration and have proven we can deliver. While the Prime Minister and Home Secretary are focused on getting asylum seekers on flights, all we see from Labour is empty rhetoric.

You just need to look at Angela Rayner’s comments during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions and her hapless effort to couch her own political mistakes into comments about the Prime Minister’s appearance. The idea that it’s time for a change is fundamentally undermined by the prospect of this feeble Labour Party in power.

One Nation Conservatives supported this tough action because we want to help unite the Party behind practical policies and because protecting our borders and stopping the boats is the right thing to do.

Now, it is time for the Home Office to step up and play its part, ensuring officials do all they can to get flights off the ground and deliver on the British people’s priorities. This should not be prevented by international courts, and if the ECHR chooses to intervene, then the Conservative Government must be ready to take a leading role in reforming and improving the court to ensure it is fit for purpose.

Fortunately, the Home Secretary is – just like our party – a man of action who we believe will act swiftly to ensure nothing holds us back from putting an effective deterrent in place and stopping the boats.

Immigration, though, is not the only issue. In order for us to address challenges on both global and domestic fronts, we need to foster a dynamic and prosperous economy.

Thanks to the Conservatives’ stewardship over the last decade, investment is up, unemployment is down, and we’re providing tax cuts to put more money back into the pockets of ordinary people. These policies, just as much and often even more so than immigration, are vital to voters.

All too often we forget the positive change the Conservatives have delivered over the past fourteen years. Alongside education standards rising and crime falling, this includes the significant steps we’ve taken in the last three years to help families tackle the cost of living crisis, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the soaring inflation that followed.

And as voters head to polling stations on Thursday, we all have a duty to remind them that we kept the economy afloat during a global pandemic, supported families during the cost of living crisis, and redoubled our commitment to keeping Britain safe and secure in the face of new dangers across the world.

For years, these decisive steps have empowered us to act on another fundamental Conservative principle: the protection of democracy and freedom worldwide. The world is currently facing its most dangerous period since the Cold War, and it is imperative to ensure the safety of the UK’s population, and those of western allies.

That’s why the Prime Minister’s announcement this week to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 is welcome and reinforces our ongoing commitment to acting as a global leader alongside our crucial NATO allies.

We have proven that by working together as a Party, sticking to the plan and putting more money in ordinary people’s pockets, we are able to keep the UK on the path to prosperity and security.

We mustn’t forget that the only way the Conservatives can continue to deliver for voters is by uniting behind a single cause – stopping Keir Starmer and his band of tax and spenders from entering No 10 after the general election.