Kemi Badenoch has announced that the UK will leave the European Convention on Human Rights if the Tories win the next general election. A review by former Justice Minister Lord Wolfson found that the ECHR “places significant constraints” on the Government’s ability to address the key issues. These include the removal of illegal immigrants and protecting veterans.

The Tories said that ECHR membership “makes it impossible to control our sovereign borders”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who will kick off her party’s conference tomorrow (SUN), said: “It is time for Britain to leave the ECHR. I have not come to this decision lightly, but it is clear that it is necessary to protect our borders, our veterans, and our citizens.

“I have always been clear that we should leave the ECHR, if necessary, but unlike other parties we have done the serious work to develop a plan to do so – backed by legal advice from a distinguished King’s Counsel.

“Our country, and our Parliament, must be sovereign. This step will ensure that the next Conservative Government will enact the policies the British people rightly expect: controlling our borders and strengthening our economy.”

The Tory leader’s stance has hardened since last autumn when she said leaving the treaty would not be a “silver bullet” for tackling immigration.

In February, she said the UK would “probably have to leave” if the treaty prevented the government acting in the national interest.

Her announcement last night (FRI) comes as the Tories attempt to halt a loss of support to Reform UK.

Nigel Farage has also said he would take the UK out of the ECHR if Reform win the next election.

A Reform UK spokesman said: “The Conservatives had 14 years in government to leave the ECHR. Since then, it’s taken them 14 months to even decide what their policy is. Nobody trusts a single word they say anymore. The Conservative Party is finished”

Russia and Belarus are the only two other European countries that have opted out of the ECHR.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “Kemi Badenoch has adopted a policy she argued against in her own leadership campaign because she is too weak to stand up to her own party in the face of Reform.

“Badenoch now thinks she is both incapable of negotiating changes to the ECHR with our international partners, and a sufficiently accomplished diplomatic operator to renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement, despite not even knowing some of the most basic facts about Northern Irish politics as recently as yesterday. This is a decision that has been forced on her and not thought through.

“While the Tories and Reform fight amongst themselves, this Labour Government is cracking down on people smuggling gangs, deporting foreign criminals and bringing forward workable and decisive solutions to bring order to Britain’s borders.”