The Conservatives have said that the Human Rights Act should no longer apply to immigration decisions.

They are calling for a change in the law that would stop people challenging their deportation on human rights grounds in the UK courts.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch has previously criticised how some foreign criminals and illegal migrants were using the act to avoid deportation.

A Home Office source told the BBC the Conservatives had left the asylum system in chaos and that their suggestion would be totally unworkable.

The Human Rights Act was passed by a previous Labour government, and incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in British law.

The ECHR has been a hotly debated topic within the Conservative Party – with some on the right of the party wanting the UK to pull out of the treaty completely.

The act has been used to halt attempts to deport migrants who are deemed to be in the UK illegally, and stopped flights carrying asylum seekers taking off for Rwanda.

Badenoch has not proposed leaving the ECHR, but has argued that some foreign criminals and migrants who are here illegally have successfully used the act to avoid deportation – saying, for example, that this would undermine their right to family life.

She also believes some judges generously interpret the provisions of the act when rejecting deportation.

Badenoch’s Conservatives are suggesting an amendment to the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill – which is currently at the committee stage – which would disapply the act in immigration cases.

The policy would give her a clear political dividing line with Labour.

Under the ECHR, migrants could still appeal against deportation to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Badenoch said the amendment she is suggesting would be “critical to shift immigration powers from the courts to Parliament and elected ministers, enabling more effective control over our borders”.

“Operating in Britain’s national interest means recognising the government’s primary purpose: defending our borders, values, and people. Our amendment aims to restore control and prioritise national security.”

The Home Office source said: “The Tories left the asylum system in utter chaos.

“They had 14 years to make changes and instead spent hundreds of millions of pounds on the failed Rwanda scheme, as small boat crossings hit a record high.

“This amendment is totally unworkable.

“Instead of dealing with mad proposals that will never work, the Labour government is getting a grip of the asylum system, increasing removals of those with no right to be here, saving millions on asylum hotels and looking at ways of tightening the application of Article 8 to ensure the system works more effectively.”

The ECHR was established in 1950 by a number of countries including the UK.

The treaty, which sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 46 signatory countries, is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It is separate to the European Union – so the UK remained part of both after Brexit.