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Badenoch confirmed she would announced that the Conservative administration if she becomes prime minister would withdraw Britain from the ECHR.

The decision signals a lurch to the right for the Conservative party, who are striving to halt a erosion of backing to Reform UK led by Nigel Farage. The Reform leader has long been a critic of the ECHR and has vowed to leave it if he becomes prime minister.

Badenoch's Announcement

Badenoch said recently that she had “carefully weighed this choice, but it is evident that it is essential to safeguard our frontiers, our veterans and our people”.

Arguments For and Against ECHR Withdrawal

Critics of the ECHR argue it frustrates the government’s efforts to deal with unauthorized immigration and remove foreign criminals.

Others contend that withdrawing from the treaty would damage the UK’s global standing and violate the Good Friday agreement, which ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland. Only Russia and Belarus are the sole European nations that are not party to it.

Assessment Conclusions

Badenoch’s decision comes after the conclusion of a extensive study by David Wolfson, the opposition legal chief, which found that the treaty “places significant constraints on the government” across a range of areas, including immigration management.

The commercial barrister considered other alternatives, such as revising or derogating from the treaty, “not feasible or insufficient”.

Wolfson maintained that withdrawal was consistent with the Good Friday agreement and the Windsor framework agreed under Rishi Sunak to ease post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Party Statement

Tory officials 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 serious work to examine the legal and practical considerations required to withdraw from the convention in an orderly manner.”

Background on the ECHR

This human rights treaty was created in 1950 and defines the rights and freedoms individuals can claim in the member states of the European body. It is a central part of UK human rights law and has been used to halt efforts to remove individuals who are considered to be in the UK without authorization.

Key Concerns

Its critics focused their concerns on article 3, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment, and article 8, which safeguards the right to private and family life, saying that they are being interpreted too broadly by judges and block lawful removals.

Individuals and countries can only appeal to the European court of human rights once they have exhausted every domestic route.

Leadership Contest Context

During the Tory leadership race last summer, membership of the ECHR became a key difference between the two candidates. Badenoch argued that withdrawal would not solve the UK’s issues, while her rival said his party would “die” if it argued to stay in.