Britain 'betrayed by a political class who keep us in the ECHR'

Britain's political class is betraying the country by keeping us in the European Convention of Human Rights and leaving the UK "powerless" to deport criminals, protect veterans and control immigration, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman will claim as she launches a blueprint for escaping the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg Court.

The plan is backed by former Brexit chief negotiator David Frost and deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice. In what is billed as the "most significant intervention yet" on Britain's relationship with the ECHR, they will urge the UK to "reclaim full sovereignty".

The new paper - Why and How to Leave the ECHR - has been endorsed by former First Minister of Northern Ireland Baroness Arlene Foster.

At the launch at London's Prosperity Institute, Ms Braverman will say: "The British people are being betrayed by a political class who keep us in the ECHR. Every day we stay in the ECHR, we are powerless to stop the boats, powerless to deport foreign criminals, powerless to protect our veterans and powerless to control immigration."

Her plan involves repealing the Human Rights Act and rewriting the Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement.

She will say: "The time for prevarication is over: people want a credible plan delivered by committed leaders."

The paper, dubbed a "roadmap to freedom", argues leaving the ECHR will help Britain protect veterans from "politically motivated prosecutions"; make it easier to stop small boat crossings and block "spurious asylum claims"; and "reunite the UK" by abolishing what Brexiteers claims is a new trading border erected between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Reform UK's Richard Tice will say: "The ECHR is blocking Britain from fixing its broken system. It prevents us from controlling immigration, defending our sovereignty, and delivering security. We must leave.

"This paper shows a clear route out and if that means rewriting the Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement and Belfast Agreement, then that is what we must do."

Lord Frost will add his voice to the calls for an exit from the ECHR, saying: "Britain needs to get serious about sovereignty. We understand that leaving the ECHR is now essential.

"The real question is not 'whether' but 'how' - how it can be done without disrupting our international relations or compromising the integrity of the United Kingdom. This bold, clear plan shows exactly how we can shake off the control of the ECHR's court and jurisprudence and finally reclaim the sovereignty that Brexit promised."

Baroness Foster welcomed the proposals, saying: "This paper sets out, in forensic and principled detail, why the time has come for the UK to leave the ECHR. The ECHR when embedded in devolved settlements such as the Belfast Agreement, has created a hierarchy of justice - where British soldiers are subjected to endless pursuit, while those who waged terror are given letters of comfort.

"This is not parity. This is not real peace.

"It is the slow unpicking of a constitutional fabric that holds our United Kingdom together".

Guy Dampier of the Prosperity Institute said: "No sovereign nation should be ruled by a foreign court. The ECHR keeps Britain weak and divided.

"This paper sets out how we can finally stand on our own two feet and put the union back together."

The paper's backers hope it will "ignite the most serious national debate on Britain's legal sovereignty since Brexit".