Monday, October 6, 2025 - Kemi Badenoch has promised a US-style immigration crackdown, threatening to deport 150,000 migrants from the UK annually.
The Tory leader's plan would see the creation of a “Removals
Force”, modelled on the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
agency.
The Conservative said the new force would replace the
existing Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit and would be given double the
funding to £1.6 billion every year from £820m.
“Its mandate will be relentlessly to focus on increasing the
number of removals from 34,000 to 150,000 a year, representing at least 750,000
removals across a parliament,” Badenoch said while addressing the Conservatives
conference.
“They don’t belong here. They are committing crimes. They are hurting people.
I’m tired of us asking irrelevant questions about where they should go. They
will go back to where they came from,” she added.
Badenoch insisted that she had spent the past 12 months
drawing up credible plans for government.
“Nothing good comes quickly or fast,” she insisted. “It will
pay off.”
Badenoch added: “I was elected to do exactly what I’m doing
now. I think Conservative party members will keep their faith in me. We have
shown we have done the hard work.”
Under the previous Tory government, record numbers of people
came to the UK under legal routes, as well as across the channel on small
boats.
Badenoch has admitted that the Tories have made mistakes in the past, but
claims that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has failed to get a grip on
immigration.
“We must tackle the scourge of illegal immigration into
Britain and secure our borders,” Badenoch said, at the start of the four-day
conference.
She has also confirmed plans for Britain to withdraw from
the European Convention on Human Rights, which she claims makes it harder for
Britain to deport failed asylum seekers.
The conservatives set out a seven-point plan to crack down
on illicit migration, also including banning asylum claims by illegal entrants,
a repeal of the Human Rights Act and the removal of legal aid for immigration
cases.
Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary, said Badenoch’s migration
plan “lacked any credibility whatsoever” and that the Conservatives had a poor
record in returning failed asylum seekers.
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