Why some Tory MPs will never be satisfied with Rishi Sunak

Priti Patel wants the government to ignore the European Court of Human Rights if it tries to prevent the removal of failed asylum seekers, writes John Rentoul

Withdrawing from the court was not in the Conservative manifesto (UK Parliament/AFP via Getty Images)

The British government is not going to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights, however much a vocal section of the Conservative Party wants it to. I make this prediction not because the idea is mistaken, although I think it is, but because of the political realities.

There are two. One is that there isn’t a majority in the House of Commons for repudiating the European Convention – the international treaty that set up the court in the 1950s. There are enough Conservative MPs who support the convention to wipe out Rishi Sunak’s majority.

Even if the necessary number of MPs were persuaded to support the plan, the second reality is that there isn’t a majority in the House of Lords for it either. Withdrawing from the court was not in the Conservative manifesto. All the manifesto said was “we will update the Human Rights Act” – the British law that incorporates convention rights. So the Lords would not feel bound by its usual principle of deferring to the elected chamber. It would block any legislation that seeks to override the European court.