One of Kemi Badenoch’s biggest announcements ahead of Conservative party conference was her pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). On Sunday, she said that exiting the ECHR would be a manifesto commitment at the next general election.
On the same day, a legal opinion by the shadow attorney general, Lord Wolfson KC, was circulated by the Conservatives. Lord Wolfson’s advice runs to 185 pages, and he acknowledges the support of a team of barristers, solicitors and academics (I declare an interest here, having contributed part of a section on the mechanics of leaving).
With even Labour now accepting that serious change is needed, it appears the status quo is politically indefensible
The opinion sets out five tests for leaving and states, among other things, that