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Any upcoming Conservative administration could be willing to dismantle more international treaties as a means to remove people from the UK, according to a leading party figure speaking at the beginning of a conference focused almost exclusively on migration policy.

Proposal to Exit Rights Convention

Making the first of a pair of addresses to the assembly in Manchester, the Conservative leader formally set out her proposal for the UK to quit the European convention on rights as part of a broader bonfire of safeguards.

These steps involve a halt to assistance for foreign nationals and the right to take immigration decisions to tribunals or judicial review.

Exiting the European convention “is a essential move, but not enough on its own to accomplish our objectives,” the leader said. “If there are further treaties and regulations we need to revise or revisit, then we will do so.”

Possible Withdrawal from UN Convention

The upcoming Conservative government would be amenable to the possibility of amending or leaving other global agreements, she said, opening the chance of the UK withdrawing from the UN’s 1951 refugee agreement.

The proposal to leave the ECHR was revealed just before the conference as one component of a radical and sometimes draconian set of immigration-control policies.

• A pledge that every refugees coming by unofficial routes would be transferred to their home or a third country within a week.
• Another plan involves the creation of a “removals unit”, billed as being patterned on a quasi-military immigration agency.
• This unit would have a mandate to remove 150,000 people a annually.

Extended Removal Policies

In a address directly after, the prospective home secretary said that if a foreign national in the UK “expresses racial hatred, such as prejudice, or supports extremism or violence,” they would be expelled.

It was not entirely evident whether this would apply solely to individuals convicted of a offence for such actions. This Tory group has already promised to deport any UK-based non-citizens convicted of almost all the very minor offences.

Judicial Hurdles and Budget Boost

The prospective minister detailed particulars of the new deportation unit, saying it would have twice the budget of the current system.

The unit would be able to capitalise of the elimination of many rights and avenues of appeal for foreign nationals.

“Removing away the legal barriers, that I have described, and doubling that budget enables we can deport 150,000 individuals a annually that have no legal right to be here. That is three-quarters of a 1,000,000 over the course of the next parliament.”

NI Issues and Platform Examination

This leader noted there would be “particular difficulties in Northern Ireland”, where the European convention is included in the Belfast agreement.

The leader said she would get the shadow Northern Ireland secretary “to review this issue”.

Her speech contained no proposals that had not been already revealed, with the leader restating her mantra that the party needed to take lessons from its 2024 election defeat and use time to develop a cohesive platform.

The leader continued to take a swipe a previous mini-budget, stating: “We will never redo the financial recklessness of expenditure commitments without saying where the funds is to be sourced.”

Focus on Migration and Security

A great deal of the speeches were concentrated on immigration, with the shadow home secretary in particular using significant parts of his address to list a sequence of illegal offences carried out by asylum seekers.

“This is disgusting. The party must do whatever it takes to end this chaos,” he said.

The speaker took a equally firm tone in parts, asserting the UK had “allowed the extremist religious beliefs” and that the nation “cannot bring in and accept principles hostile to our native”.