UK politics live: Badenoch to launch Tory conference with migrant ‘removals force’ pledge inspired by Trump’s ICE

Every Conservative candidate in the next election must back the policy of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said.

Mrs Badenoch told Camilla Tominey on GB News: “I was very clear at the shadow cabinet – where we agreed completely, it was unanimous – that we cannot have a party where people do not abide by manifesto commitments.

“If you do not agree with leaving the ECHR, then you should not and cannot stand as a Conservative candidate.”

Asked whether she will “kick people out” if they rebel on this issue, she said: “They can be in the party, but they cannot stand as MPs.

“We have lots of members who have lots of views, we don’t remove people for having slightly different views on policy.

“But if you want to be a Member of Parliament as a Conservative, then you need to understand that leaving the ECHR is a manifesto commitment.”

Britain is “spending all of our money” on dealing with immigration, rather than the NHS or other public services, Kemi Badenoch has said.

The Conservative leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Right now, we have people, you know, in social housing, we’re spending loads of money, not just on hotels, but asylum centres, all of the policing that goes around it, that Epping protest after that horrific sexual assault that cost well over £1 million.

“We are spending all of our money on dealing with migration issues instead of the NHS, instead of education, instead of, you know, our health, our police force.”

Earlier, she had said failing to deport people was “basically inviting every single person across the world to our shores, because we don’t know where they would go”.

“This is a fatalistic and defeatist attitude, and I will not have that.”

Kemi Badenoch has described her party’s recent performance as a “small political price” for an approach that would “pay off eventually”.

The Conservative leader told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Nothing good comes quickly or fast.

“It will pay off. I’m an engineer and the way I was taught to do things is you have a plan, you work it through.

“It’s not about being the first to announce a policy. It’s about having the best policy. That is what I’m offering.

“And, yes, there may have been a small political price to pay in the polls. It will pay off eventually.”

Kemi Badenoch has declined to say whether she would resign if her party’s performance did not improve.

Asked whether she would quit if the Conservative Party’s fortunes did not get better, Mrs Badenoch told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “The fact is I was elected to do exactly what I’m doing now and I think the Conservative members are going to keep their faith in me.”

Greenpeace UK has condemned the home secretary’s plans to grant officers more powers to police protests as a “dangerous step towards authoritarianism”.

The charity’s co-executive director Will McCallum said: “Protest works because it is repetitive. If police had told the Suffragettes or civil rights activists ‘you’ve made your point’, they would never have won the victories we all enjoy today.

“The home secretary must immediately withdraw this dangerous step towards authoritarianism. Any review of protest laws must result in greater freedom for people to make their voices heard, not less.

“We are repeatedly told that the right to protest is ‘a cornerstone of our democracy’ and yet in the last few years it has been corroded to the point of collapse. Police are already swimming in powers to shut down protests and lock activists away for years. The steady rise in protesters being arrested and served long prison sentences is proof of that.”

Kemi Badenoch has said she “wouldn’t be surprised” if US President Donald Trump “loved” her migration plan.

But, speaking to the Telegraph, she said she was more interested in the views of people in the UK.

The Independent’s whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

This is a tough party conference for Ms Badenoch this weekend.

Her own MPs increasingly think her first conference as leader could also be her last.

She told the BBC that, despite trailing Reform in the polls, her strategy “will pay off – nothing good comes quickly”.

She conceded there had been a “small political price to pay” in the opinion polls, but insisted that her plan would turn things around and work.

But she needs to convince her own MPs of that in Manchester over the next few days.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:

The Tory leader is having a fairly fiery exchange with Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC over her plans to leave the ECHR and deport around 150,000 people a year.

Ms Kuenssberg not unreasonably asks: “Where would they go?”

Ms Badenoch replied, repeatedly: “It doesn’t matter where they go, the point is that they should not be here.”

This back and forth goes on but shows a much harder rightwing line in the Tory party from when they were in government.

Basically, she wants a UK version of Trump’s notorious ICE agents in the US.

Clearly the rise of Reform has ensured that the Tories have abandoned more nuanced approaches on issues like stronger borders.

The Independent’s whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised the government over the planned crackdown on repeat protests, asking: “What took them so long?”

She insisted that her party believes in free speech, but added “it has to be within the bounds of the law”.

The Independent’s whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:

The home secretary has denied that she considered resigning over Gaza.

Initially, Shabana Mahmood said: “I don’t think my personal decisions here are what matter.”

But pushed on the BBC on whether she considered quitting over Labour’s position on Gaza, she said: “No.”

She also said she accepted collective responsibility and was a “proud part” of the government.