The Conservative Party has unveiled a sweeping immigration plan aimed at removing 750,000 illegal immigrants within five years, drawing comparisons to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s deportation policies.
Announced at the start of the party’s annual conference in Manchester, the proposals would permanently bar anyone entering the UK illegally from claiming asylum and strip rejected applicants of the right to appeal in court. Instead, appeals would be handled internally by Home Office officials.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said those without legal status should “go back to where they came from” or be sent to other countries deemed safe, supported by a new “Removals Force” that would replace the current immigration enforcement unit.
The unit’s budget would be doubled by an additional £820 million per year, funded by closing asylum hotels. It would have a mandate to remove at least 150,000 people annually — including illegal residents, new arrivals, and foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes — a fivefold increase from the 35,000 removed last year.
The party said deportations would be directed either to home countries or to “safe” third nations willing to accept returnees. It also plans to negotiate returns agreements with other countries and threaten to withhold aid or visas from those refusing cooperation.
Badenoch confirmed that the UK would withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent asylum seekers from using it to block deportations.
When pressed by the BBC about where migrants would be sent, Badenoch dismissed the question as “irrelevant,” saying voters were more concerned with results than technicalities.
“We cannot have a situation where we cannot deport people because we don’t know where they will go,” she said. “That is a defeatist attitude, and I will not have that.”
To accelerate removals, the Removals Force would be funded at £1.6 billion annually and backed by expanded detention facilities capable of holding up to 2,000 migrants at a time.
The proposals also seek to tighten asylum eligibility, limiting claims to those fleeing persecution from their own governments while excluding people escaping war or restrictive laws on religion or sexuality.
Abolishing the Immigration Tribunal is another major element of the plan, with appeals to be handled by Home Office staff rather than judges. The Tories also propose ending taxpayer-funded legal aid in immigration cases, arguing that “there will be no need for lawyers” since cases would be “fairly assessed.”
The move follows similar pledges by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has promised to deport 600,000 migrants and exit the ECHR. Badenoch, however, claimed the Conservatives’ plan was more robust, backed by legal analysis from former justice minister Lord Wolfson.
In her conference speech, Badenoch urged party members to unite around a message of national identity and border control, saying, “Nations cannot survive on diversity alone. We need a strong common culture rooted in our history, language, and belief in liberty under the law.”
The proposals mark a sharp contrast with the Labour government’s stance, which has opted to remain in the ECHR but is seeking to toughen border controls and deter illegal crossings across the English Channel.