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ALL Tory MPs will be forced to back leaving the meddling European Court under Robert Jenrick's leadership.

The Tory leadership contender blasted the Strasbourg jurisdiction, arguing it is "just not working in the interests of the British people".

Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick
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Tory leadership hopeful Robert JenrickCredit: Peter Jordan
Political Editor Harry Cole with Robert Jenrick on Never Mind The Ballots
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Political Editor Harry Cole with Robert Jenrick on Never Mind The BallotsCredit: Peter Jordan

He said illegal migration will never end and terrorists will continue to roam our streets unless Britain takes back control of its borders and legal framework.

Firing a warning shot to Tory MPs, he told : "If the Conservative Party does not stand for fixing our borders, then our party has no future."

The former immigration minister, who made it to the final round of the Tory leadership race alongside Kemi Badenoch, said he will use the contest to "settle some of the big questions facing our party and country".

He said: "Let's come to conclusions and unite around.

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"For example, whether we should remain within the European Convention on Human Rights. I'm very clear. We will never end illegal migration.

"We never get the terrorists and the foreign criminals off our streets, out of our country, unless we do that.

"I want us to have clear policies, not platitudes. "

On whether he will require require every single member of his shadow cabinet to agree to that before giving them a
job, he told our Political Editor Harry Cole: "I want to use this leadership have a mandate for that.

"So the membership will, I hope, support me in this, because they understand how important it is to get a grip on this.

"And then it will be added to the stable of Conservative Party policy. "

Mr Jenrick also committed to having leaving the ECHR in his election manifesto, saying: "If we win the next election, we do it on a manifesto that commits to that.

"So anyone who stands at that election obviously would be supporting the policy."

What is the ECHR and why do people want to leave?

What is the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights has jurisdiction in the 46 countries that are subscribed to the European Convention of Human Rights.

Based in Strasbourg, its judges rule on possible breaches of the 16 Articles that make up the Convention. 

It emerged from the Second World War and has been in place since 1953 where Britain was a founding member.

The court is entirely separate from the European Union meaning the UK is still bound by its rulings. 

Large sections of the Convention are enshrined in UK law via the 1998 Human Rights Act. 

Why do critics want to leave it?

In recent years there have been growing calls to leave the ECHR, which critics accuse of becoming increasingly political.

This culminated in 2022, when an anonymous judge ordered the British government to abort its first Rwanda flight while the plane was on the runway. 

Fears of overreach also boiled over last week when Strasbourg ruled against the Swiss Government for not doing enough to stop climate change.

Proponents of the ECHR say leaving would put Britain in the same club as Russia and Belarus as the continent’s only non-members.

But critics like Liz Truss hit back that many countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia have good human rights without needing a third party court.

What has Rishi Sunak said?

Rishi Sunak has said he would be prepared to quit the ECHR if that is what it takes to stop the boats.

He told our Never Mind The Ballots show: “I believe that border security and controlling illegal migration is more important than our membership of any foreign court.”

Separately, the Rwanda Bill gives ministers the powers to ignore the so-called “Pyjama Injunctions” which lets judges cast down eleventh-hour vetos in the dead of night. 

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