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Kemi Badenoch has declared that a Conservative government if she becomes prime minister would pull the UK out the ECHR.

The decision marks a lurch to the right for the Tories, who are attempting to stem a erosion of backing to Reform UK led by Nigel Farage. The Reform leader has long been a opponent of the ECHR and has pledged to withdraw from it if he becomes prime minister.

The Leader's Announcement

Badenoch said recently that she had “not come to this decision lightly, but it is clear that it is essential to safeguard our frontiers, our veterans and our people”.

Debates Surrounding Leaving the ECHR

Critics of the ECHR claim it hinders the authorities' attempts to deal with unauthorized immigration and remove foreign criminals.

Some commentators argue that withdrawing from the agreement would harm the UK’s global standing and breach the Good Friday agreement, which ended years of strife in Northern Ireland. Only Russia and Belarus are the sole European nations that are not signatories.

Review Findings

Badenoch’s decision follows the conclusion of a months-long review by David Wolfson, the shadow attorney general, which found that the treaty “places significant constraints on the administration” across a variety of fields, including immigration management.

Lord Wolfson considered other options, such as renegotiating or derogating from the treaty, “either unrealistic or ineffective”.

Wolfson maintained that withdrawal was consistent with the 1998 peace deal and the Windsor framework agreed under Rishi Sunak to simplify trade after leaving the EU.

Conservative Response

The Conservative party said: “In contrast to Reform UK, who have made slapdash pledges with little thought of the consequences and no strategy to deliver behind them, the Conservatives have done the thorough analysis to explore the juridical and operational factors necessary to withdraw from the convention in an systematic way.”

Context on the ECHR

This human rights treaty was established in the mid-20th century and sets out the rights and freedoms individuals can claim in the member states of the European body. It is a central part of Britain's rights legislation and has been invoked to halt efforts to deport people who are deemed to be in the UK illegally.

Major Issues

Its critics focused their concerns on Article Three, which prohibits cruel or humiliating practices, and Article Eight, which helps to protect the privacy and family rights, saying that they are being interpreted too broadly by judges and block lawful removals.

Individuals and countries can only make an application to the Strasbourg court once they have exhausted every domestic route.

Leadership Election Context

In the Tory leadership race last summer, membership of the ECHR became a dividing line between the two candidates. She claimed that withdrawal would not resolve the UK’s problems, while Jenrick said his the Conservatives would “die” if it argued to stay in.