Robert Jenrick accuses leadership rival Kemi Badenoch of ‘disrespecting’ Conservative Party members by refusing to state his position on the ECHR

Robert Jenrick has accused his Conservative leadership rival Kemi Badenoch of “disrespecting” party members by failing to set out her position on “big issues”.

The former immigration minister has criticized Ms Badenoch for offering only “platitudes” and “empty rhetoric” as they compete to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.

Mr Jenrick has made withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) a central plank of his leadership campaign as part of a series of policy promises.

But Ms Badenoch warned Mr Jenrick’s approach to the ECHR risks splitting the party and said the Tory contest was “not a test of who can make the biggest promises”.

She instead called on the party to focus on “the work of the opposition” as it proposes to oversee the “renewal” of the Conservatives.

Robert Jenrick has accused his Conservative leadership rival Kemi Badenoch of “disrespecting” party members by failing to set out her position on “big issues”.

The former immigration minister has criticized Ms Badenoch for offering only “platitudes” and “empty rhetoric” as they compete to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 last night, Mr Jenrick rejected the notion that voters simply won’t believe a string of new Tory promises so soon after the general election.

“Kemi and I disagree deeply on this issue,” he told the Westminster Hour.

“I think the public is deeply skeptical of our party right now, and the way to regain public trust is to be clear about where you stand on certain issues.

“For example, on immigration issues: do we want to limit migration or not, do we want to leave the ECHR or not.

“I am in favor of limiting migration, I am in favor of leaving the ECHR and, as a result, for the security of our borders.

“I believe it is disrespectful to members and the public to ask for their votes without taking a position on the important issues facing our country today.

“The plan for today is what I propose. My opponent offers the promise of a plan for some point in the future.

“And I don’t think that’s the way to restore the public’s trust in us.”

In response to his suggestion that Ms Badenoch was being “disrespectful” to Tory members, Mr Jenrick said: “I think if you want to regain the trust of the British people you have to have a plan.

“I have very clear and specific plans for every topic I talk about.”

He added: “I don’t sell platitudes, I don’t like empty rhetoric, we’ve had too much of it in recent years.

“One of the reasons the party failed in this general election was because we failed to deliver and develop very clear and credible plans to address the big challenges facing our country.

“That’s what I’m proposing, and that’s frankly the dividing line in this leadership election. If party members want platitudes, I am not their candidate.

“I am a candidate who has serious and credible answers to the big problems facing our country.”

In response to Mr Jenrick’s comments, Ms Badenoch’s allies said Conservative Party members were “tired” of the party’s “infighting”.

A campaign source said: “Kemi and Rob have different approaches to the campaign and she has no desire to criticize his approach.

“Conservative Party members are so tired of the infighting at Westminster that cost us votes at the last election.

“Kemi wants to unite the party around conservative principles and bring us back to government.”

Ms Badenoch did not rule out supporting Britain’s exit from the ECHR, but warned it would not be a “silver bullet” in the fight against illegal migration.

Speaking during a televised debate between her and Mr Jenrick on GB News last week, she said: “If we have to leave the ECHR to control migration, we have to leave it.”

“But this is not a panacea. This is not even the most radical thing we can do.

“Immigration is too high, both legal and illegal. We need to address this. This puts a strain on public services. We are not able to build, to build housing, in order to keep up.

“It’s unfair, but we have to ask ourselves why countries in the ECHR are better able to deport people who are there illegally than we are?”

In an apparent criticism of Mr Jenrick, the former business secretary also said the Tory leadership race “is not a test of who can make the biggest promises”.

She added: “The public removed us from government because they believed we were incompetent and did not deliver on our promises.

“The answer is not to make new promises. The answer is to do the job they have given us, and that is the job of the opposition.”