Suella Braverman blasts 'weak' Tory record on migration as she launches full blown assault on Robert Jenrick
Suella Braverman has blasted the Conservative Party's record on migration, saying her party has been "weak, squeamish" on the issue.
This comes the same day as the former home secretary launched an attack on Robert Jenrick.
She dubbed Jenrick a “centrist Rishi supporter” and a Remainer “from the Left of the party”.
Speaking at the Popular Conservatism conference, the MP for Fareham and Waterlooville said the Tory party should bid to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and axe the Human Rights Act.
The former home secretary added: "We’ve never been unequivocal about this pressing cause of the problem."
She also addressed the historic wipeout suffered by her party at the General Election, saying: "It was challenging, it was gruelling, it was brutal."
She added: "I know PopCon is going to play a pivotal role in the Renaissance of the Conservative Party."
Referencing the party’s achievements since 2019, Braverman said: "We did not do what we promised to do."
Speaking to the Telegraph about Jenrick, the ex-home secretary said: "He definitely comes from the Left of the party.
"He voted for Remain in the Brexit referendum. He was a big, kind of centrist, Rishi supporter.
“I remember talking to him about leaving the ECHR a year ago, and him looking horrified by that prospect. It’s really good that he’s moving in a different direction. Wasn’t the story that he was sent by Rishi to keep an eye on me in the Home Office?”
Yesterday, Braverman also took a swipe at Labour's plan for migration, claiming the UK will become "an even bigger magnet for illegal arrivals" as a result of their plan.
She said the numbers of illegal migrants will "soar", adding that our borders will "disintegrate".
The Tory leadership frontrunner was responding to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper outlining the new Government's plan to tackle migration.
Cooper said she has "immediately started work on a major upgrade in law enforcement, including the process to recruit a new border security commander, new cross border police to go after the criminal gangs."
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She said the gangs are "undermining our border security and putting lives at risk", adding: "They are getting away with it".
Posting on social media, the former home secretary said: "More blah, blah, blah. I warned, but prepare to see the UK become an even bigger magnet for illegal arrivals & numbers soar as our borders disintegrate.
"We need to leave the ECHR, scrap the HRA & quickly remove people when they arrive illegally. Nothing else matters."