US-style blanket travel bans could be ‘viable’ in UK, says Tory leader

Published on
06/06/2025 – 17:14 GMT+2

The leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has indicated that a US-style blanket travel ban on foreign citizens could be “viable” in the United Kingdom, stressing that it should no longer be the “world’s softest touch.”

The Leader of the Opposition said on Friday that Britain is being “mugged” by illegal migration, local media reported.

She added “parliament needs to be able to decide who comes into the country, for how long and who needs to leave,” explaining that this can be done through measures such as travel bans.

“There are scenarios where this is viable.”

In a resurrection of his controversial first term “Muslim ban”, Trump on Wednesday announced travel bans to the United States for citizens from 12 countries he has deemed “out of control.”

It will apply to people from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The ban is set to go into effect on Monday and will bar nationals from these countries from entering the US unless they qualify for an exemption.

Travel restrictions will also come into force for citizens of a further seven countries on the same day.

However, Badenoch then went on to say she didn’t fully support a Trump-style ban for the UK, adding that she hadn’t seen which countries were affected.

“That doesn’t mean that I agree with what Donald Trump has done. I’m much more focused on…what’s happening here.”

“Britain is blocked”

Badenoch made the remarks after a speech at the Royal United Services Institute in Westminster in which she launched a commission tasked with analysing leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The international human rights treaty between the 47 states which are members of the Council of Europe (CoE) protects the basic rights and freedoms of people.

She argued that the UK had “lost control of the asylum system” and is “being blocked”.

Referring to the ECHR, she vowed to crackdown on “lawfare” which she said is obstructing border control and is used to stop migrant deportations.

“I have always said that if we need to leave the convention we should and having now considered the question closely I do believe that we will likely need to leave because I am yet to see a clear and coherent way to fix this within our current legal structures.”

Badenoch has enlisted a senior barrister to review the legalities surrounding the a potential UK withdrawal from the ECHR.

The senior lawyer is expected to provide his report at the Tory party conference later this year, at which point the Tory leader will make a final decision on the ECHR “problem.” However, she stressed she would not do so without a clear plan.

Leader of the far-right Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, stated earlier this year that the first thing he would do as Prime Minister would be to withdraw the UK from the ECHR.

Meanwhile, the current Labour government has ruled out leaving it.

Last month, nine EU countries signed an open letter calling for the ECHR to be reinterpreted to allow for policy changes on migration. The signatories, who believe it should be easier to expel migrants who commit crimes, said the ECHR’s interpretation of the convention should be examined.

The CoE’s Secretary Alain Berset criticised their politicising of the court.