Flights carrying illegal migrants to Rwanda would have taken off and the numbers of arrivals would have come down if Britain had not been in the European Convention of Human Rights, former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman insisted as she launched a blueprint for quitting the ECHR.
Mrs Braverman said the European Court of Justice – which polices the Convention – had dealt the plan to send migrants to Rwanda the “fatal blow” when the inaugural flight was abandoned shortly before take off in 2022 after an ECHR intervention.
She said: “Imagine what effect that would have had, had we just got them going – the deterrence effect would have been significant and I’m sure the numbers would have fallen.”
Mrs Braverman launched her “roadmap to freedom” alongside Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice at London’s Prosperity Institute – but insisted she would not defect to Nigel Farage’s party. Instead, she said she would keep “pleading” with her own party to make leaving the ECHR official policy.
The Tories are staging a review into whether the UK should quit the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg Court, but Mrs Braverman said she was nervous the party would look like it has been “dragged kicking and screaming to this policy position rather than embracing it with conviction”.
Reform’s Mr Tice said the cancellation of the Rwanda flight was “one of the most humiliating set of TV images and pictures” that a “sovereign nation” had seen.
Pushing for further bold action to strengthen democratic accountability, Mrs Braverman called for the judicial appointments commission – which selects candidates for judges in England and Wales – to be scrapped.
She said “absurd” decisions resulted in “wholly inappropriate people being part of our judiciary”.
The former Home Secretary also wants the sentencing council – which provides sentencing guidelines to courts – axed.
She said: “I’m afraid a lot of these institutions have become Left-wing and they are not working in the national interest.”
When asked if Mrs Braverman would be welcome in Reform ranks, Mr Tice said: “People who believe in our principles and values from all parties and no party are welcome. That’s why we are soaring in membership numbers and in the polls.”
Mr Tice said insisted Reform had to have the legislation to take the UK out of the ECHR ready to go before it won power – and he had a warning for any civil servants opposed to the policy.
He said: “We need to do the preparatory work, drafting the legislation using our own lawyers, our own barristers, before there is a general election. Bluntly, civil servants need to be told: If we’ve won the general election on a mandate to leave the ECHR it’s very simple – either you accept the mandate of the people and get stuck in enacting it or frankly, in the nicest possible way go, and get a job somewhere else because it’s not going to end well.”
Former Chief Brexit Negotiator also endorsed Mrs Braverman’s plan to leave.
Speaking at the launch at the Prosperity Institute, he said: “I do think the current situation cannot stand. National democracy, full national sovereignty, must be restored.”
In her speech, Mrs Braverman said: “We are at a moment of crisis. A crisis of security, a crisis of trust.
“We’ve lost control of our borders. We have a justice system that in too many cases is distorted and unfair. The people have lost confidence in our law enforcement.
“Our national sovereignty has been eroded and the British people are taking to the streets in anger. Serious action is required.
“This Government won’t do it. So it falls to us in Opposition to start planning seriously for how to do it if we have the chance to govern one day.”
A Government spokesperson said: “We have been clear that the UK will remain a member of the European Convention on Human Rights; we do not need to withdraw to deliver meaningful reform. The Government’s Immigration White Paper sets out new plans to tighten the application of Article 8 of the ECHR – giving courts the clarity they need so our immigration rules are no longer abused.”