Badenoch Unveils Radical Borders Plan

Kemi Badenoch has unveiled a 'Radical Borders Plan' to create a new Removals Force modelled on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, backed by about £1.6bn. The package aims to detain and deport up to 150,000 people a year using measures including facial recognition and a pledge to remove small-boat arrivals within a week, and would ban asylum claims from unofficial entrants. It involves repealing the Human Rights Act and withdrawing the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights after a Conservative legal review judged the ECHR constrains deportation efforts. Critics warn the ICE-style model risks heavy-handed tactics and due-process failures, and Badenoch was unable to give concrete answers about where deported people would be sent. The announcement comes as the Conservatives trail in opinion polls, face pressure from Reform UK and internal tensions at a muted conference, and Badenoch is preparing to defend the proposals in high-profile media appearances.