Reform UK leader Richard Tice has called on Rishi Sunak to fire “shock and awe” into the heart of the United Nations (UN) with an ultimatum aimed at forcing their hand when it comes to Refugee Convention reform.
It comes after a passionate speech by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in which she called for the United Nations’ Refugee Convention to be overhauled to help quell the migrant crisis facing the UK.
Braverman said the current international framework governing refugee status, including the UN according, was “contributing” to a system that was incentivising millions of asylum seekers to “try their luck”.
She called for the “definition of who qualifies for protection” under refugee laws to be “tightened”.
Richard Tice doesn't think Braverman went far enough with her speech
GB NEWS / PA
Speaking on GB News, Richard Tice said the Home Secretary did not go far enough, and warned the country is “on the road to ruin”, adding that he believes multiculturalism has “failed”.
“We are one fantastic British culture, we should be saying that to those who come to live here”, he said.
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“Embrace it, use it, enjoy it, rather than say ‘I’m a separate culture, I’m on a separate track. That is the road to ruin.
“My view is, Sunak should back Braverman up, and say we need six months to amend this convention, otherwise, we’re out.
“I think that is the shock and awe that is needed to wake up a very complacent elite.”
Braverman concurred with Tice’s suggestion that multiculturalism has “failed” during her speech while making other controversial remarks such as offering asylum to a person because they are discriminated in their home country for being gay or a woman was not sustainable.
Braverman warned that 'seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing'
PAEqualities campaigners and MPs have hit out at Braverman’s comments, including shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who said Braverman is “scapegoating” LGBT people with her remarks.
The latest Home Office figures indicate that 2 per cent of asylum claims made in the UK last year included sexual orientation as part of the basis for a claim.
The Home Secretary’s decision to rally against multilateral treaties comes against a backdrop of domestic struggles to control irregular migration.
Braverman is under pressure to help deliver Sunak’s pledge of stopping the boats from crossing the Channel - one of five commitments that Sunak is hoping to deliver ahead of a likely election in 2024.
Almost 24,000 migrants have arrived into the UK via small boats since January.
The official annual arrivals number, while down 26% from the same period in 2022, is likely to rise after people thought to be migrants were spotted being taken in to Dover, Kent, on Tuesday.
Speaking in Washington DC, Braverman added that the Government would do “whatever is required” to tackle the issue of migrants arriving via unauthorised routes.
She said: “The Prime Minister himself has said we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats and that is my position.”
