Priti Patel slams European judges for 'interfering' as MP calls for UK to leave ECHR
Priti Patel has hit out at European judges for "interfering in our domestic policies", calling for the UK to leave the ECHR.
GB NEWS
Priti Patel has hit out at European judges for "interfering in our domestic policies", calling for the UK to leave the ECHR.
Speaking to GB News' Camilla Tominey at the Conservative Party Conference, the former Home Secretary said leaving the ECHR will help to "protect our country and to protect the rights of Britain and British citizens".
She said she would support the Government including a promise to leave the ECHR in its manifesto.
Patel told GB News: "What I would say, having these conversations this side of a general election, when we could be six to eight months away from a general election, that's not going to lead to delivery.
"The question is, and I'm sure the public will be interested in this, will we go into the next general election again with a manifesto for reform or leaving the ECHR, which the Conservatives have done?
"It's been done before. So the question is, are they going to do it again?
"If so, I'm absolutely pro the changes that we need to see, to protect our country and to protect the rights of Britain and British citizens.
"It's right that we do this in a proper way, rather than over-promising and then saying, post the general election as it's happened before, it is too difficult."
She later added: "But what I would say, having these conversations this side of a general election, when we could be six to eight months away from a general election, that's not going to lead to delivery.
"The question is, and I'm sure the public will be interested in this, will we go into the next general election again with a manifesto for reform or leaving the ECHR, which the Conservatives have done?
"It's been done before. So the question is, are they going to do it again? If so, I'm absolutely pro the changes that we need to see, to protect our country and to protect the rights of Britain and British citizens.
"It's right that we do this in a proper way, rather than over-promising and then saying, post the general election as it's happened before, it is too difficult."
Giving a speech last week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman demanded world leaders rip up the UN Refugee Convention and instead introduce a migration regime "fit for our modern age".
Speaking in Washington in front of the centre-right thinktank American Enterprise Institute, Braverman said: "Seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing."
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Priti Patel spoke to GB News' Camilla Tominey at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester
GB News
The Home Secretary said "simply being gay, or a woman" should not by itself be enough to qualify for protection under international refugee laws.
She added: "Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary.
"But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection."
The Home Secretary said that refugees cannot be allowed to "shop around" for safe havens, arguing that the convention is being interpreted as providing a right to asylum to those who face discrimination, rather than persecution.