Suella Braverman to slam Rishi Sunak over ECHR and say he lacks ‘political will’ to ditch Euro court
RISHI Sunak lacks the “political will” to take Britain out of the European Court of Human Rights, Suella Braverman will declare.
The former Home Secretary will use a fiery speech in Brussels to make the case for ditching the euro court.
But she will warn the Government has not “laid the ground work” for doing so – despite the PM saying he is ready to quit the Strasbourg court if that is what it takes to stop small boat crossings.
The former Cabinet minister is expected say: “The current UK Government doesn’t have the political will to take on the ECHR and hasn’t laid the ground work for doing so.
“And so it’s no surprise that recent noises in this direction are easily dismissed as inauthentic.
“It should be noted that any attempt to include a plan for ECHR withdrawal in a losing Conservative Party election manifesto risks setting the cause back a generation.”
The PM is under growing pressure from Tory backbenchers to use the party’s election manifesto to commit to quitting the ECHR ever since his threat to leave on The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots telly show earlier this month.
Mr Sunak said: “I believe that border security and controlling illegal migration is more important than our membership of any foreign court.”
Ms Braverman will speak at the National Conservatism conference tomorrow – which will also feature speeches from Brexit supremo Nigel Farage and Hungarian PM Viktor Orban.
NatCon organisers said the aim of the event is “strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western and other democratic countries” ahead of EU parliamentary elections this year.
The gathering was forced to relocate at the 11th hour after claims of “political pressure” from the local Left-wing mayor, according to its organisers.
It was due to be held at the Concert Noble but people within the municipality reportedly put pressure on the venue to “try to prevent a conservative conference from taking place”.
Former MEP Mr Farage told The Sun: “Having come face-to-face with them many times in the European Parliament over the years, it comes as no surprise to me that the socialists in Brussels have done their best to stop this conference from taking place.
“It is good news for democracy and the nation states of Europe that an alternative venue has been found.”