Rip up ECHR rules to stop ‘murderous people’ coming to UK, Kemi Badenoch tells LBC
Britain must withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to “keep murderous people out of our country”, Kemi Badenoch has told LBC.
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Violence erupted on the streets of Belfast for a second night on Wednesday after a Sudanese migrant allegedly stabbed 44-year-old Stephen Ogilvie, who is in an induced coma and lost one of his eyes in the attack.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Conservative Party leader said rioters are angry that the alleged attacker was allowed into the country.
“While we condemn all violence, the fact is we should not be distracted from what is triggering this violence,” she told Nick.
Mrs Badenoch added: “There was a brutal attack on someone who has been maimed and the person who [allegedly] did that looks like they should not have been in this country. From all of the information I've received.
“We need to focus on how we keep murderous people out of our country. And that is why the Conservatives have a policy to leave the Convention on Human Rights."
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“We've got a borders plan to make sure that that legislation is not the end, but the beginning.”
However, she admitted the Conservatives “got a lot of things wrong in government”, claiming that “we did try everything”.
“But we can't have people like that in our country. And I think that's what people are rioting about,” Mrs Badenoch added.
Sudanese suspect Hadi Alodid was allegedly granted asylum via a controversial "Irish route" known as the Common Travel Area (CTA), which allows British and Irish citizens to move freely between the two countries.
This saw the alleged attacker travel to Dublin from Sudan via Paris.
He is then believed to have taken a bus to Belfast in February 2023 where he claimed asylum and was given leave to remain in the UK that September.
The journey involves migrants flying to Dublin from Europe, often said to be on false papers, before being granted access to Northern Ireland without routine immigration checks.
Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Jon Boutcher, confirmed the man's route on Tuesday.
The Conservatives have come under fire for being in Government when Alodid entered the country in 2023.
Suella Braverman, who has since defected to Reform UK, was Home Secretary at the time.
Robert Jenrick, who has also defected to Nigel Farage’s party, was an immigration minister.
Mrs Badenoch said: “I wasn't leader at the time. I also wasn't in the Home Office at the time. All I can do is apologise to people.
"The people who enacted that policy have now run to Reform and pretending they had nothing to do with it. The rest of us are here trying to clean the mess up. Our kindness has been exploited.
“There was an assumption, certainly amongst the civil service, but even within the political class, that everybody claiming asylum was genuine. This is naive. We need to get tough."
She added that those using the loophole are "exploiting our kindness" and "exploiting our rules."
Mrs Badenoch continued: "That man, as far as I can tell, should not have been in this country.
“Our new policy would mean that he would not have been allowed in this country because we would have left the ECHR and he would have been deported immediately.”