Suella Braverman attacked 'politicized' European judges by promising to stop boats

Suella Braverman, Secretary of State for the Home Office, in Westminster during her morning interview tour of the TV studios Photo: Typhoon Salci/ZUMA Press

Braverman criticized the European judges, calling them «politicized» and «interventionists» trampling on the national sovereignty of the UK, as she refused to rule out the prospect of Britain withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Home The Secretary of State said the government would do «everything possible» to stop the boats when asked whether the UK would withdraw from the ECtHR if Supreme Court and Strasbourg judges continue to obstruct its policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.

However, she said the government is not thinking or talking about the possibility of withdrawing from the ECtHR “right now”, but instead is working on its plan to “stop the boats”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today, Ms Braverman also said the government would only be able to start enforcing the new small court legislation once the Supreme Court rules on the legality of deportation flights from Rwanda later this year.

Rishi Sunak's Irregular Migration Act, which became law last month, gives ministers the power to detain anyone who enters the UK illegally and quickly deport them to a safe third country like Rwanda or their home country.

However, flights to Rwanda have been suspended since June 2022, when a single Strasbourg judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a last-minute injunction against them behind closed doors, known as the Rule 39 ruling. the ban suspended flights until the British courts ruled on the legality of the policy. This process will come to a head in October, when the Supreme Court will decide by a two-to-one majority whether the Court of Appeal was right to rule flights illegal on the grounds that asylum-seekers would not be safe in Rwanda.

Ms Braverman, who voiced her support for leaving the ECtHR during the race for the Tory leadership, said: «The Strasbourg Court is, in my opinion, a politicized court.»

«It expands national sovereignty. Last year, we saw very clearly how the Strasbourg court thwarted our attempts to fly to Rwanda through a last-minute non-transparent procedure that undermined the decisions of this government.”

“We passed a landmark law”

When asked if she wanted the UK to leave the ECtHR, she replied: “My personal point of view is clear. As I said, this is a politicized court. This is interventionism. This encroaches on the territory of national sovereignty.

“But now no one is talking about leaving the ECtHR. We are working on our plan. We have adopted an epoch-making law. We are confident in the legitimacy of our agreement with Rwanda.

“I am confident in its legitimacy and we hope that the Supreme Court will agree with us and will wait for such a result. We will do everything possible to stop the boats.

When asked again if she supports leaving the ECHR, she replied: “It is clear that if we are prevented in the courts, because the ECHR, if we are prevented in Strasbourg, we will do our best. The Prime Minister was adamant on this issue. The stone should not remain.”

Ms Braverman confirmed that the government is considering marking migrants as one of a «many options» to allow ministers to pursue their plans to detain anyone who has arrived in the UK illegally so they can be deported to a safe third country.

< p>Ministers have been forced to consider further measures due to a shortage of immigrant detention facilities, currently numbering only 2,500, and a continued rise in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel, with 19,000 arriving this year.

The home minister acknowledged that key provisions of the small court laws could not be passed until the Supreme Court ruled on the legality of Rwanda's deportation plan. The verdict is expected at the end of November or December after hearings that will take place in the second week of October.

«Rwandan partnerships»

«We will have to wait for the outcome of the trial in the Supreme Court regarding our partnership with Rwanda before we can properly implement the main provisions of the Law,” she said.

She declined to give a date for the return of asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, after all 39 migrants were evacuated after legionella bacteria, a bug that could cause deadly Legionnaires' disease, was found in the water supply.

However, she said she made clear her «anger» and «disappointment» at the decision to allow asylum seekers on the barge before the contractors got back the Legionella test result.

>Ministers remained in the dark about the problems for almost three days after the opening. “Am I disappointed with what happened? Am I angry about what happened? Of course, yes, and I have made it very clear to the parties involved, the government officials who were involved in this and who oversaw this,” she said.

“Ultimately, I take responsibility. Responsibility for everything that happens in the Ministry of the Interior lies with me. And we are working very quickly to rectify the situation and get people back on the barge as quickly as possible.”