Truss: I won’t cower to European courts in our border battle

LIZ Truss yesterday vowed to take on the European Court of Human Rights as she went head-to-head with Rishi sunak over immigration.

Control of Britain’s borders dominated weekend jousting between the pair, with the Foreign secretary vowing she ‘will not cower’ to the court that recently blocked Boris Johnson’s Rwanda migrants plan.

The court has also been blamed for hindering the deportation of foreign criminals for years.

Miss Truss pledged to revisit the controversial idea of asking Border Force to intercept Channel migrants and tow them back to France.

It was abandoned by Mr Johnson this year after warnings it posed too great a risk to life. But campaign sources said Miss Truss would explore ‘all possible tactics’ for turning around boats to discourage others from the perilous crossing.

Mr sunak also pledged to take on the court – and said Parliament should place an annual cap on the number of refugees admitted. In an interview with the Mail on sunday Miss Truss pledged to increase Border Force numbers by 20 per cent and double the number of Channel patrols.

Launching her plans yesterday, she said: ‘As Prime Minister, I am determined to see the Rwanda policy through to full implementation as well as exploring other countries where we can work on similar partnerships.

‘I’ll make sure we have the right levels of force and protection at our borders.

‘I will not cower to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and its continued efforts to try and control immigration policy.’

A source close to Miss Truss added: ‘she’s been frustrated with the ECHR and its mission creep. she is prepared to take a tougher stance and deliver the reforms required so the ECHR works for Britain.’

Mr sunak also launched his ten-point plan to tackle illegal immigration yesterday.

In The sunday Telegraph, the ex-chancellor said the immigration system was ‘broken’, adding: ‘The system is in disarray, and law-abiding citizens are understandably shocked when they see boats filled with illegal immigrants coming from France to our shores, with our Border Force seemingly doing nothing to stop them.’

He said Parliament should determine an annual cap on the number of refugees allowed in the UK.

He also said illegal immigrants could be interned on unused cruise ships while their cases were assessed, preventing them from absconding.

But critics questioned whether this would be legal. Welsh secretary Robert Buckland, who is supporting him, struggled to explain how it would comply with obligations under the United Nations Refugee Convention, saying there would be ‘exceptions for emergency situations’. Mr sunak said he would ‘tighten’ the definition of who can qualify for asylum to be in line with UN guidance. ‘ Where the ECHR is an obstacle, I will tackle it,’ he said.

Mr sunak yesterday defended the focus on immigration, saying there was ‘ absolutely nothing racist about wanting Britain to have secure borders that work’.

On the campaign trail, he said: ‘We have always been a compassionate, tolerant and welcoming country. Indeed, I am the product of that and my family emigrated here, but it’s absolutely right that the system works fairly for all.’

It came as a senior Labour MP suggested concerns about illegal immigration were ‘bigoted’. Dame Angela Eagle said proposals appeared to be aimed at the 0.2 per cent of the public who are Tory members.

‘They seem to think those 0.2 per cent are all rabid, bigoted people who only care about the Rwanda scheme. They are trying to appeal to the prejudices in their own party,’ she told Times Radio.

‘Prepared to take a tougher stance’

thE word ‘shambles’ is overused. But it perfectly describes Britain’s broken immigration and asylum system.

From the dispiriting failure to deport thousands of dangerous foreign criminals to record numbers crossing the Channel, every day our border security regime is exposed as inadequate beyond belief.

Recognising this as a crucial battleground, tory leadership contender Liz truss says if she becomes prime minister she will explore ‘all possible tactics’ to attack the problems. her rival Rishi Sunak, meanwhile, has unveiled a ten-point plan to make illegal entry into Britain more difficult.

We wish them well with their ideas. the trouble is, we’ve heard tough government talk so many times and nothing changes.

Indeed, look no further than our chilling investigation, starting on page 14. Shadowy gangs are fuelling illegal immigration by selling fake British passports online. they even use pictures of the Queen to advertise the bogus documents to illicit customers.

Sophisticated enough to dupe UK border controls, the passports allow potential terrorists, criminals and others to slip into the country – putting the public in danger.

the first duty of any government is to keep citizens safe. at present those citizens are being failed abysmally.