Voters Think Tory ‘Tests’ for Leaving the ECHR Are Already Answered. So Why Wait? – Guido Fawkes

Voters Think Tory ‘Tests’ for Leaving the ECHR Are Already Answered. So Why Wait?

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It’s a step forward from Kemi Badenoch today who is unveiling some immigration relevant policy in a speech on the ECHR. The Tories have launched a review into leaving led by Lord Wolfson KC, which will report back at conference…

Lord Wolfson is one of the leading lawyers on the right – there is no doubt that the review will be credible. The process has the advantage of helping with party management – it will be easier for the Tories (should they decide they support leaving the ECHR) to maintain the position if proper work has been done. Crucially, it will provide the ladder needed for many wet Tories – who privately don’t think the UK should leave – to climb down and change their view. Remember, according to one poll, only a third of Tory members actually want to exit the Convention…

As it did when deciding its policy on Starmer’s Brexit deal, the party has set several ‘tests’ by which it will decide whether the ECHR should be ditched. The review also focuses on how to replace it with a British bill of rights…

The only problem is – err – the reality of the polls and recent elections. Reform has been consistently clear it wants to leave the ECHR. It has made that policy the core of its platform on immigration and law and order, and Farage consistently campaigned to leave the Convention when the Tories were in government. As of this month, Reform has been consistently polling ahead of the Conservatives for a year – during which the Tories have not had a clear position on the ECHR (though Robert Jenrick was the first to say Britain should quit). Most voters, when asked, now consider Reform to be the main opposition party. It is four months until conference – during that period forecasts say the UK will receive the highest ever number of small boat migrants. A legal policy development process or handling exercise for pro-ECHR Tories is not a communications strategy or campaign relevant to voters. The party is near electoral extinction – can it afford to wait four months to catch up with Reform on this?