Suella Braverman has stepped up pressure on Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch by throwing her support behind Robert Jenrick’s proposal for a decade of net emigration, a policy under which more people would leave the UK than enter.
The former home secretary argued that such a stance would go further than Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s net zero immigration plan, which aims to balance arrivals with departures.
“Britain cannot carry on like this overcrowded, overstretched and overwhelmed,” Mrs Braverman said.
Also, “the British people must come first, and that starts with reversing mass migration. Enough is enough. Only net emigration can relieve the pressure, restore fairness, and give Britain back to the people who built it.”
Braverman and Jenrick both served under Rishi Sunak, with Jenrick as immigration minister.
However, she was sacked while he resigned, accusing the prime minister of failing to act decisively on immigration.
Both also demanded that the UK withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) a move Sunak refused, instead opting for more limited reforms.
Ms Badenoch is due to outline the Conservatives’ immigration platform at their October conference, where leaving the ECHR is expected to feature prominently following a party review.
Jenrick, speaking to the Spectator on Thursday, outlined a tougher approach than Farage, including large-scale deportations affecting women and children, withdrawal from the ECHR, long-term net emigration, and prison-style detention camps for asylum seekers.
His stance appears to have significant public backing. A YouGov poll found 52 per cent of respondents supported housing asylum seekers in detention camps, compared to 35 per cent who opposed the idea.
