Jenrick is seeking to stand out among Tory leadership rivals in his firm opposition to the ECHR. (Image: Getty)
Tory leadership contender has told members that the party will “die” unless it backs pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
, who addressed a rally at the conference in Birmingham this morning, used the speech to harden his rhetoric on immigration and warn members that Reform UK threatens to “grow and grow and condemn us to obscurity”, The Telegraph reports.
To avoid this, the must somehow “restore our credibility on migration” his speech argued, according to extracts from it published on Sunday, ahead of the rally.
It’s another attempt by Jenrick to make Britain’s membership of the international agreement central to the race to replace as party leader.
While all three of his rivals, , and , have suggested they’re open to the idea of leaving the ECHR, they insist the immigration system needs remedying first, the outlet reports.
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Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
Tory hardliners have long been calling for the UK to leave the ECHR, claiming it is a barrier to Britain having adequate control over its borders.
Jenrick is among those who at argue the convention puts intolerable limits on the UK’s ability to deport people arriving in small boats after crossing the English Channel.
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Critics say leaving the convention would have dire consequences, including damaging intercommunal relations, harming strategic relations with the US, and threatening human rights.
Jenrick’s speech argued that if the continues to “duck and dance around this question our party has no future”.
“Despite what others might falsely claim, we’ve never had a legal cap on legal migration,” he continued. “Unless we introduce one – where no visas will be issued unless net migration is in the tens of thousands or lower – we will be powerless to end the cycle of broken promises.
“I am not prepared to gamble the house on some five-year review process that may or may not see us doing what is obviously necessary. I have a plan ready now: leave the ECHR and introduce a legally binding cap on legal migration.”
“Anyone who is not prepared to commit to a specific cap just doesn’t understand the depth of public anger,” he argued. Jenrick has previously promised to cap annual net migration at 100,000 if elected Prime Minister.
Jenrick evoked the language of in the context of the ECHR, insisting, “The choice is clear, it’s leave or remain”.
“In fact it’s more than that – it is leave or die,” he added. “If we don’t do this now, we’ll never restore the public’s trust and there’s every chance that Reform will grow and grow and condemn us to obscurity.”
Reform leader laid into Jenrick on social media yesterday, saying: “Formerly a man that believed in nothing, Robert Jenrick now pitches himself as the great hardliner. This is almost certainly done for political gain and not out of conviction.”
Jenrick is the frontrunner for the leadership after coming top in the last round of Tory MP voting, followed by Badenoch. Next month Tory MPs will vote for a final two before the membership chooses their favoured candidate.