It’s become a rather popular talking point in right-leading circles over the past few years, and now it seems the Conservative Party is intent on joining Reform in backing a withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). However, this wouldn’t exactly reflect the will of the people.
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Badenoch considers plans to withdraw ECHR – but public unconvinced
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition, stated last week that she is giving increased consideration to a policy which would withdraw the UK from the long-standing agreement, and will explore options to formulate a credible plan. Nigel Farage, meanwhile, previously claimed that it is ‘what the public wants’.
“Mass immigration in making Britain poorer. The two main parties are only going to make things worse. That’s why we need to leave the ECHR so we can deport people that come illegally and take back control of our borders and our lives, and that’s what the public wants.” | Nigel Farage
‘Remain’ proving to be more popular than ‘leave’
However, his suggestion doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The latest YouGov poll on the matter, released on Friday, shows that the amount of Brits who want to remain within the ECHR framework vastly outnumbers those who want to leave. In fact, the number is almost double.
In total, 51% of those surveyed said they support the UK’s ongoing membership of the ECHR. Just 27% said the country should withdraw from it – although support for the latter option has increased by three percentage points over the last 12 months.
Which European countries are not signed up to the ECHR?
Only 10% of Labour voters and 9% of Liberal Democrat supporters believe that leaving the ECHR is a good idea. That number rises to 54% for Conservative backers, and a whopping 72% among Reform’s electoral base. Around 22% of all respondents remained unsure.
Leaving the ECHR would again risk the UK’s fragile relations with the EU, in the decade that has followed Brexit. Should the UK pull out, they would join Russia and Belarus as the only European countries that are not signed up to the charter. Fine company, eh?