Kemi Badenoch says the Conservative party will take a look at withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), freeing us at a leap and a bound from the tyranny of human rights lawyers. The Tory leader would give Britain the power to deter the cross-Channel influx of asylum seekers, by withdrawing protections from those arriving in Britain without papers.
The government might as well install a gargantuan flashing neon sign on the White Cliffs of Dover: Refugees welcome here
As there is unlikely to be a Conservative government in the foreseeable future, this announcement is going to have no effect now, or any time soon, on the actual boats. And read the fine print: Badenoch hasn’t really even made up her mind; she is going to set up a committee to look into it.
In the real world, the boats aren’t being stopped, the gangs aren’t being smashed and the French judges and police are shrugging.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in