Overview

• The Conservatives published a seven-point Borders plan that includes repealing the Human Rights Act, withdrawing from the ECHR and the anti-trafficking ECAT treaty, banning asylum claims for illegal entrants, abolishing the immigration tribunal, and curtailing judicial review and legal aid in immigration cases.
• A new US-style Removals Force, modelled on ICE and funded at £1.6 billion, would work with police, use facial recognition without warning, and aim for 150,000 removals a year to total around 750,000 over a Parliament.
• Kemi Badenoch said any Conservative candidate who does not back leaving the ECHR will be barred from standing at the next general election.
• Rights groups and legal bodies condemned the plan as a rollback of protections and raised concerns about Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement, which the Wolfson review argues would not legally block withdrawal.
• Operational questions remain unresolved, including destinations for deportees, as Badenoch vowed removals within a week while current enforced returns total about 9,115 a year, far below the new target.