Suella Braverman hits campaign trail in Dudley with tough talk on immigration

LEADING Conservative Suella Braverman joined the campaign trail in Dudley with a call for migrants to be sent to Rwanda within hours.

The former Home Secretary says the Tory’s controversial plan to send asylum seekers to the African country while their applications to live in Britain are processed will deter illegal immigrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

So far this year a record 13,195 people have attempted the dangerous crossing and Ms Braverman agrees with Dudley’s general election Conservative candidate, Marco Longhi, that the government has not done enough to stop the boats.

Ms Braverman said: “What I would like to see is people – the minute they arrive in British waters – to be picked up by UK authorities and very quickly processed and on a plane to Rwanda within hours or days.”

She added she thinks Britain should scrap its human rights act and pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Longhi, who has been a long-time supporter of a tough stance on immigration, added: “I can’t think of any other solutions, other than a deterrent.”

Ms Braverman was head of the Home Office twice between September 2022 and November 2023 before being sacked by Rishi Sunak.

She famously wrote a damning letter to the Prime Minister after being fired, accusing him of breaking promises and failing to deliver policy priorities.

Now fighting to keep Mr Sunak in Downing Street despite opinion polls predicting a big Labour win, Ms Braverman agreed things had not gone well.

She said: “I have seen great campaigns and I have seen tough ones, it is no secret this is one of the tough ones.

“We are fighting to win and we need to make sure we give it our all, this is about the future of our country. I am horrified by the prospect of a Keir Starmer government.

“Every party puts out a manifesto, I’ve made clear my disagreements on some of those policy areas.”

Mr Longhi is also critical of the recent Conservative government and says he, along with Ms Braverman, are ‘real’ Conservatives.

He said: “The Conservative Party has not performed, it has done badly on some key issues.

“We are a broad church, the left of the party has been allowed a voice and are bigger in number than myself and Suella.

“They have won influence on decisions coming out of Number Ten. Suella was being held back and it was not her fault, the Home Office is not on her side.”

Mr Longhi added he is paying a price for being outspoken on some issues, he said: “I have been called a racist for talking about something which is just common sense.

“We are fighting forces that are not often spoken about, every MP should be brave enough to talk about these issues.”

Ms Braverman would not rule out another bid for the Conservative leadership if Rishi Sunak is ousted after an election defeat.

She said: “Let’s just say I’m working night and day, flat out, as is Marco and his brilliant team, to win every vote that we can.”