Kemi Badenoch opened the door yesterday to imposing US-style travel bans – as she warned Britain is being 'mugged' by migrants.
The Tory leader said there were 'scenarios' in which the UK might need to halt arrivals from entire states – and said human rights laws should not prevent governments from doing so.
US President Donald Trump faced a furious backlash from human rights groups this week after citing national security grounds to ban all arrivals from 12 countries, including Iran, Libya, Afghanistan and Somalia. Amnesty International described the move as 'discriminatory, racist and downright cruel'.
Mrs Badenoch did not directly endorse Mr Trump's actions, but said Britain should reserve the right to impose similar restrictions. 'Parliament needs to be able to decide who comes into the country, for how long, and who needs to leave, and that does include travel bans,' she said. 'On a country-specific basis it's much tougher. But I think there are scenarios where that is viable.'
Her comments came as she took a decisive step towards backing withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute in London, she warned human rights laws were being 'weaponised' to stifle action on everything from immigration and crime to housing and the environment.
