We face an immigration crisis that even a decade ago would have seemed unthinkable. Pressure on Britain is spiralling out of control. At the heart of that is unsustainable immigration.
Since Labour took office, over 38,000 illegal immigrants have entered the UK by small boat. 2025 so far is the worst year on record for crossings.
Those crossing are mostly young men – incentivised by the knowledge that once they arrive, we are powerless to send them home. And all the while, human traffickers continue to make millions through this abuse.
Successive governments have promised to fix this, but they have failed. We must now ask why we cannot fix this crisis? Why can’t Britain enforce its own laws, even when Parliament and the public demand it?
The answer lies in a system of international treaties and conventions that continue to be abused – and Judges who twist their intended meaning beyond recognition. When we try to enforce our own domestic laws, we’re often blocked by international courts and endless litigation exploiting these treaties. Foreign judges, remote tribunals, legal loopholes. Lawfare.
The ECHR was never meant for this. It was written to stop tyranny – not stop deportation flights of dangerous criminals, like the perpetrators of the disgusting rape gangs. Today the ECHR is being twisted to defy common sense and overrule the will of Parliament.
Many have set about trying to reform our international conventions and obligations. We have tried to reform the ECHR before – but the truth is it will not work. Only a couple of weeks ago an attempt by nine European countries to start a process to reform the EHCR was contemptuously rebuffed.
Labour is ignoring this crisis. Their pledge to smash the gangs lies in tatters. They scrapped the Rwanda removals deterrent before it even started and numbers of illegal immigrants surged.
Labour voted against our Deportation Bill, which contained practical measures – such as a binding cap on legal migration set by Parliament each year and the deportation of every single foreign national offender and illegal migrant.
Kemi and I are clear – if you come to this country illegally, you will not be able to claim asylum or make a human rights claim – and instead you will be kicked out. Parliament should be sovereign, and Parliament alone should decide who comes to this country and who is allowed to stay here.
There should not be judges in UK or foreign courts stretching beyond recognition the content of the ECHR articles. These articles were written for good reason 70 years ago, but the modern interpretation of the convention bears no resemblance to what the original drafters had in mind.
So that is why I have reached the view, in principle, that we need to leave the ECHR. But we will not finally commit to this until we have checked through the legal details to make sure that it will work in practice and will deliver what we need. Unlike Reform, we won’t just shoot from the hip or make up the first thing that comes into our heads. We will have a credible plan that will actually work. The final decision will be taken by party conference in October.
No longer are we prepared to allow the ECHR to stop us from controlling our borders. Foreign criminals should all be kicked out from our country. And every single illegal immigrant who comes here should be removed – whether to their home country or somewhere else.
This is what the people rightly expect of their government. The Conservative party under new leadership is now ready to do it, and we have the plan to deliver.
