06 February 2023 , 13:10
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A Tory MP has slammed Rishi Sunak's "phoney war" and told him to stop “willy waving” by threatening to take Britain out of European human rights rules to make it easier to deport asylum seekers.
Conservative Jackie Doyle-Price insisted the Prime Minister should tackle the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats by getting the Home Office into shape rather than trying to pick a fight with the courts.
In leaked messages from a WhatsApp group, the ex-minister wrote that “willy waving about leaving the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights] will do zilch”.
“I have been a member of the Conservative Party for 36 years. This group leaves me cold," she said.
"Upholding the law should never be a matter for debate for a Conservative. Our Home Office is crap. If the Government wants to have a phone[y] war over the ECHR instead of sorting itself out it can do it without me."
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According to the messages, obtained by Politico, fellow Tory Anna Firth backed Ms Doyle-Price, posting that she was “bang on the money” about the ECHR “rabbit hole”.
Migrants sit onboard a boat in the English Channel off the coast of northern France, (AFP via Getty Images)David Simmonds, another Tory, insisted “the ECHR is not the issue here”. “By pretending it is, we are setting ourselves up for a fall as a UK court will take the same line,” he added.
It comes after a report at the weekend that Mr Sunak was prepared to leave the ECHR if the court blocked plans to halt the flow of asylum seekers arriving in small boats.
The ECHR was established after the Second World War to protect human rights and political freedoms by politicians including Winston Churchill.
“The PM has been clear he wants to introduce legislation that meets our international obligations,” a source close to Sunak told the Sunday Times
“This bill will go as far as possible within international law. We are pushing the boundaries of what is legally possible, while staying within the ECHR. And we are confident that when it is tested in the courts, we will win.
“But if this legislation gets onto the statute book and is found to be lawful by our domestic courts, but it is still being held up in Strasbourg, then we know the problem is not our legislation or our courts.
“If that’s the case, then of course he will be willing to reconsider whether being part of the ECHR is in the UK’s long-term interests.”
Mr Sunak has made curbing small boats crossings a central pledge amid anger from Tory MPs on what they consider to be a critical issue ahead of the next election.
Ministers are said to be drawing up plans to make it harder for people to make legal challenges against deportation - including a hard-line plan to block those who arrived in small boats from seeking judicial review.
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Downing Street insisted the plan would be "compliant" with the ECHR.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I think there has been a great deal of speculation.
"You heard from the Prime Minister himself where he said, first and foremost, he wants to put an end to the exploitation of our laws through reform of the system.
"We will of course comply with all our international obligations, and we are confident the measures being worked through will tackle the problem while being compliant with the ECHR."
Asked whether a "plan B" of leaving the ECHR was under consideration, the spokesman replied: "I wouldn't get into future speculation."
Some 1,442 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year, according to Home Office figures.
A record 45,755 people succeeded in making the trip in 2022.