Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch last night announced she is ready to tear up human rights laws to stop migrant boats.
In a major intervention, she vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to smash people-smuggling gangs and take back control of Britain’s borders.
Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
She reignited the leadership race by vowing to go as far as hot favourite Robert Jenrick if it stops the tidal wave of misery. Her pledge came as the Sunday Express uncovered a plot by gangsters to smuggle illegal migrants into 10 new locations outside Kent.
We exclusively reveal today how they plan to evade Border Force and put desperate men and women to work in cannabis farms.
Mrs Badenoch declared: “We will end illegal migration by proper enforcement and inserting whatever deterrent is necessary into the system. And, yes, if necessary, we will leave international frameworks like the European Convention of Human Rights.”
The former Trade Secretary unveiled her stance as she arrived at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, where all four contenders will parade before members.
Leadership frontrunner Mr Jenrick has been hoovering up support from the Right of the party as the only candidate explicitly to propose pulling out of the ECHR.
But Mrs Badenoch yesterday vowed to “end illegal migration” and use “whatever deterrent is necessary” – and threw down the gauntlet to her rival.
In an apparent swipe at Mr Jenrick, she said any exit from the Convention would be “part of a full plan, not just a throwaway promise to win a leadership contest”.
Mrs Badenoch has previously taken aim at rivals who talk about “leaving the ECHR on day one” and blasted rivals for peddling “easy answers”.
But Mr Jenrick, a former immigration minister, has accused her of pursuing
a “fantasy”.
In today’s Sunday Express he promises he would pull out of the ECHR to “protect the public and secure our borders”.
The four candidates will set out their plans to stop illegal immigration before the assembled party faithful.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has scrapped the Conservative plan to deter small boat crossings by sending migrants to Rwanda – but his government is under intense pressure to stop people smuggling.
There have been 32 deaths in the Channel since July’s general election.
And today we can reveal people smugglers have drawn up a list of 10 coastal sites outside Kent to bring in more migrants.
Hastings and Winchelsea in East Sussex, and Bracklesham and Shoreham-on-sea in West Sussex are on the list, as are Frinton, Walton and Harwich all in Essex. Further afield, Liverpool, Belfast and Felixstowe, in Suffolk, are also targeted.
French officials have issued a warning about gangs using routes other than just northern France to Dover.
Smugglers looking to land migrants in these areas want to beat the Border Force and link them up with organised criminals across the UK and put them to work on cannabis farms.
A prosecution source in Calais said: “This is an audacious attempt to widen the location of landings this winter.
“They know they’re winning. They’re expanding their net.
“These are with the aim of direct crossings to avoid law enforcement agencies. It’s all about staying one step ahead.” Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migrant Watch UK, said: “This is very disturbing. It shows how migrants are beating the system and leaving Britain to play catch-up.”
In one of the worst tragedies since Channel crossings began, 12 people including six children and a pregnant woman drowned after a boat sank off the French coast on September 3.
Eight people died on September 15 when a packed rubber vessel containing around 60 people got into difficulty in waters north of Boulogne-sur-mer.
More than 11,600 people have come to Britain in small boats since Labour won the election 87 days ago.
Mrs Badenoch’s tough stance puts her on a more equal footing with Mr Jenrick – and may give her the edge in a final vote among grassroots members who have the final say in who takes the Conservative crown from Rishi Sunak.
Many Tory voters believe withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the ECHR is the only way to stop activist lawyers blocking moves to deport illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers.
But others believe it would send out the wrong signal to the rest of the world and believe fighting to modernise the Convention is the only answer.
Mrs Badenoch insisted she can put an end to the chaos.
She said: “We will end illegal migration by proper enforcement and inserting whatever deterrent is necessary into the system.
“And, yes, if necessary, we will leave international frameworks like the ECHR, which were built for another age and are being bent out of shape by legal activism.
“But that will be part of a full plan, not just a throwaway promise to win a leadership contest. Reducing immigration is our objective.-
“We lost sight of that in government.”
The race for the Tory leadership is nearing a crunch moment.
Next month, MPs will narrow the list of candidates to the final two and party members will then vote on whom they want to succeed Mr Sunak.
While Mr Jenrick is the bookies’ favourite, polling of party members suggests Mrs Badenoch could win if she makes it to the final two. Her allies have accused Mr Jenrick’s supporters of trying to keep her off the final ballot.
In an interview, she said: “I think that may be happening.”
Mr Jenrick’s team have denied the claims. But Mrs Badenoch warned that if MPs “try and stitch it up” then “members will be very angry”.
Mrs Badenoch will address a Tory party devastated by the scale of Sir Keir Starmer’s victory. She says the Conservatives were “not ready” for the election but says they must “get ready for government”.
She said: “The Conservative Party has become too detached from its members. This conference is a chance to reset that.
“Labour has the trade unions, charities and NGOs campaigning for them, spreading their message.
“All we have are our members and this
conference has got to be about them.
“The Labour conference showed Keir Starmer has no clue how to fix this country’s problems.
“We might not have been ready for the general election, but Labour weren’t ready for government.
“Fourteen years and no ideas. GB
Energy will fail. Their workers’ rights proposals will fail.
“Their non-dom plan has already failed. We need to renew the Conservative Party and get ready for government.”
