Remigration: Restoring Control of Our Borders

Since at least 2010, every Conservative manifesto has promised to reduce immigration. The 'tens of thousands' target was followed by the 'points-based system', which was followed by net migration reaching a record of over 900,000 in the year to June 2023, according to revised Office for National Statistics figures. Few political promises have been broken so consistently, or so enthusiastically.

Labour fares no better. Each government expresses concern, commissions a review, and then presides over numbers higher than its predecessor. Meanwhile tens of thousands arrive each year on small boats across the Channel, a route that barely existed before 2018.

Remigration means turning the tide through lawful, orderly policy rather than more speeches. It begins with the obvious: those who entered illegally, and foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes, should be removed promptly. Today many are not, delayed for years by appeals, legal challenges and an asylum backlog measured in the tens of thousands.

It continues with structural reform. Britain should leave the European Convention on Human Rights, whose interpretation by the Strasbourg court has repeatedly frustrated removals. Asylum claims from people who have travelled through safe