MPs behind the plan, which is being led by former Tory deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith, want Boris Johnson to front any such referendum campaign.
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Tories, think again! For a Tory faction is pushing for a referendum to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which it wants to take place on the same day as the general election, in a bid to see off the threat from Reform UK.
The Daily Mail has reported that a Super Thursday double poll proposal is being mooted by ‘New Conservative’ MPs in a last-ditch attempt to save their party. The group is led by Tory MPs Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger and is predominantly made up of Red Wall Tory MPs.
MPs behind the plan, which is being led by former Tory deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith, want Boris Johnson to front any such referendum campaign.
The thinking behind it is that Reform voters are likely to back quitting the ECHR and the Tory party would be the only party capable of implementing such a plan.
Tory MPs have made a renewed push to quit the ECHR in recent months as they seek to implement a harsher crackdown on migration without any regard to human rights laws or international treaties.
Frustration among Tory MPs towards the ECHR reached its peak last year when a European court blocked deportation flights to Rwanda.
The ECHR was established in 1950 by a number of countries including the UK. The treaty sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries, which is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights.
Labour Party MP Stella Creasy posted on X in response to the news: “The threat is to our protection from an out of control Government as a citizen of the UK if we leave the ECHR.
“Don’t let the same lunatics who trashed our economy with brexit trash your right to a fair trial because they’ve run out of other people to blame for their mistakes.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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