Rishi Sunak has vowed to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if Strasbourg continues to block attempts to get flights to Rwanda.
He said that controlling illegal migration is "more important" than membership of the ECHR, saying he would not let a "foreign court" interfere with a policy that is "fundamental to our sovereignty".
Sunak also said legal migration is "clearly too high". He defended policies put in place by the Government to clamp down on legal migration, saying that restricting visas for dependents and boosting salary thresholds will "essentially halve the level of net legal migration into this country, reduce them by around 300,000".
Speaking to the Sun about illegal migration, the Prime Minister said: "I speak [as] someone who comes from a family of immigrants.
Rishi Sunak has vowed to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if Strasbourg continues to block attempts to get flights to Rwanda
PA
"Our country is built on the notion of fairness. It’s central to our national character.
"Of course, we’re a welcoming and tolerant people, and my own personal story is an example of that, but that’s got to be done fairly.
"And when people jump the queue, come here illegally, and then put pressure on public services in the way that they do, and we’re not able to remove them in the way that we want to, that’s not right."
Sunak's insistence that he will withdraw from the ECHR if necessary will be welcomed by right wingers in the Tory party who are concerned that the new legislation, currently being ping ponged between the Commons and the Lords, will be blocked by Strasbourg.
Vowing to "get this done", Sunak said: "I believe that border security and controlling illegal migration is more important than our membership of any foreign court.”
But he also insisted that the laws are "compliant with all our international obligations, including the ECHR”.
Previously, the PM pledged to ignore "pyjama injuctions" from Strasbourg, used to block flights at short notice. But his latest intervention suggests he will not allow any permanent ruling on the Rwanda plan.
Asked if a pledge to leave the ECHR could be included in the Conservative manifesto ahead of this year's election, he said: “I do believe that border security and making sure that we can control illegal migration is more important than membership of a foreign court, because it’s fundamental to our sovereignty as a country."
Last month, it was revealed that the Rwanda plan is unlikely to become law until April 18.
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The hope had been to seek royal assent for the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill before the end of March. But the plan now is to complete the whole process in the week following the return of MPs and peers from their Easter break.
This will see Government whips will order Conservative MPs to reject changes to the Bill before one final push to force the legislation through the House of Lords.
