Kemi Badenoch’s European human rights withdrawal plan would weaken Britain, delight authoritarians and achieve none of the goals the Tories imagine
K
emi Badenoch’s announcement of a Conservative party inquiry into a British withdrawal from the European convention on human rights (ECHR) should fool no one. The working party under the shadow attorney general, David Wolfson, announced on Thursday, will not look dispassionately at whether the UK should withdraw. It will merely try to say why and how. The policy of withdrawal itself is almost, to coin a phrase, oven-ready.
This back-to-front policymaking process exemplifies the party’s rudderless drift under Mrs Badenoch. Tory policy is not now in the hands of the leader or the shadow cabinet. It is in the hands of Reform UK and the opinion polls. Mrs Badenoch is a follower of events. Hers is the approach of someone still trapped in a party bubble which is consumed by the belief that withdrawal is the key to regaining the Conservatives’ squandered popularity.
This is nonsensical politics for the Tories. But it is also dangerous for Britain. The UK’s long commitment to international law is a cornerstone of this country’s soft power standing in the world. Labour’s reassertion of this approach, with its clear signal to the world that Britain can again be trusted as a partner, has generated national benefits since the party returned to office last year.
