Ex-Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland has told Tory MPs who fear pooling sovereignty by being part of the European Convention on Human Rights to “grow up”.
Buckland, who lost his Swindon South seat to Labour with a swing of 16.5 per cent, joined a panel of Conservatives discussing whether the UK should remain under the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg court.
During his appearance, Buckland appeared to dismiss concerns made by Eurosceptics about pooling sovereignty.
The issue of pooling sovereignty emerged as the main issue for 2016 Brexit voters ahead of the referendum, with the issue even trumping immigration.
Speaking at More in Common’s fringe event yesterday, Buckland said: “Frankly, on sovereignty, we live in a world where we have international obligations.
“Every time you sign a treaty, you give away some of our sovereignty.
“Let’s just grow up and get over it. I think it’s a good thing that we do that.”
Buckland also described the ECHR’s relevancy to the migrant crisis as a “red-herring”, adding: “The decision that was made about Rwanda was not about the interpretation of ECHR law, it was about our own domestic law.”
However, a critical Conservative told GB News: “He lost his seat. He’s yesterday’s man.”
Buckland’s remarks came just hours before Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick is expected to warn that the Conservative Party will “die” unless it proposes pulling out of the ECHR.
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More in Common held a fringe event on the ECHR yesterday
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Jenrick will use his speech at the ICC today to argue that Reform UK will “grow and grow and condemn us to obscurity” unless the Tories somehow regain trust in bringing down numbers.
He will add: “Our party’s survival rests on restoring our credibility on immigration. If we continue 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. 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. Anyone who is not prepared to commit to a specific cap just doesn’t understand the depth of public anger.
“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.
“The choice is clear, it’s leave or remain. In fact it’s more than that – it is leave or die. 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.”
Despite Jenrick’s warning about Farage, the ex-Immigration Minister was slapped down by Reform UK’s leader last night.
Taking to social media, Farage wrote: “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.”
Robert Jenrick
PA
The ECHR appears to have emerged as a main wedge between Jenrick and his remaining leadership rivals.
Ex-Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch penned a piece in The Telegraph where she stressed it could be necessary to leave the ECHR but described the sole commitment as a “throwaway promise to win a leadership election”.
Former Security Minister Tom Tugendhat took a more hardline stance compared to his 2022 bid for leader.
However, the Tonbridge MP first believes in reform before advocating to leave if it “doesn’t serve our interests”.
Speaking earlier this month, Cleverly also rejected the suggestion of leaving.
He said: “The ECHR is not the body that stopped the planes taking off just before I became home secretary. It was the UK supreme court which stopped those planes taking off.”
The former Home Secretary added: “The simple fact is, if you’re trying to grab shorthand answers, quick fixes, the British people will look at us and say we’ve heard that before.”
An opinion poll by More in Common found just 26 per cent of Britons want to leave the ECHR, with 48 per cent wanting to remain a member.
The findings showed Britons were far more likely to blame the Tory Party for the migrant crisis than lawyers and judges.
However, it also revealed the extent to which migration has cut through as an issue.
There are now 455 seats where a majority would rather reduce immigration than increase it or keep the levels the same.
When it comes to the Channel crossing crisis, 46 per cent want a complete stoppage, 28 per cent would like numbers to be significantly reduced and just five per cent do not want numbers reduced at all.
Speaking about the findings, More in Common’s UK director Luke Tryl said: “If there were a referendum today, 48 per cent say that Britain should remain a member of the convention, 26 per cent say Britain should leave the convention.
“The starting point is that Britain should stay in amongst the public. The thing I would say is that it’s quite a low salience question … most people don’t spend that long thinking about it and it can change a lot during a campaign.”
Tryl revealed that reducing migration is incredibly popular but leaving the ECHR is not particularly popular with the broader electorate.
However, the survey revealed it is popular amongst both 2024 Reform UK voters and 2024 Tory voters.
