The EU is not a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, yet insists that Britain submits to it, a damning report has highlighted.

The controversial convention has come under severe scrutiny over the last week after Labour's Attorney General Lord Hermer claimed that calls to leave it were akin to the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany.

It also drew the fury of Kemi Badenoch in a landmark speech this morning, with the Tory boss warning it had become a "sword used to attack democratic decisions".

Under the ECHR's Article 8, migrant criminals have been allowed to stay in the UK because their children would not eat foreign chicken nuggets, and because they would be left feeling "depressed" in their homelands.

Under the ECHR's Article 8, migrant criminals have been allowed to stay in the UK because their children would not eat foreign chicken nuggets

But a new report from Facts4EU has cast light on how, despite Brussels and its supporters' calls for Britain to stay signed up to the ECHR, the EU never joined in the first place.

Half a century ago, discussions started between the Council of Europe and the then-European Economic Community regarding the Convention on Human Rights.

Negotiations have continued over the years, as the EU has evolved, and new treaties have been drafted and ratified.

However, the EU has long failed to sign up to the convention, and is still not a member of the ECHR.

After years of stop-start negotiations, the latest round began in 2020.

On the 70th anniversary of the discussions to form the ECHR in 1950, the EU hailed how it "shares the convention's vision for the protection of human rights across the continent, and remains committed to acceding to the convention".

Brussels has vowed that accesstion to the ECHR is 'a legal obligation for the EU' - but it is not a member

More recently, Brussels has vowed that accession to the ECHR is "a legal obligation for the EU".

Facts4EU's report contains a damning four-point assessment of the problem - which spells out just why the British right is turning on the convention.

1. The EU insists the UK submit to the rulings of the ECHR, as contained in the UK-EU Trade & Cooperation Agreement;
2. The EU refuses to submit to the ECHR itself;
3. It is not possible to bring legal cases against the EU at the European Court of Human Rights;
4. It is, however, possible to bring a legal case against the UK there.

'The ECHR is now being used in ways never intended by its original authors,' Badenoch fumed on Friday - speaking from Rusi, where Lord Hermer delivered his infamous 'Nazi' jibe days earlier

"The ECHR is now being used in ways never intended by its original authors," Badenoch fumed on Friday.

"It should be a shield to protect. Instead, it's become a sword - a sword used to attack democratic decisions and common sense.

"This use of litigation as a political weapon is what I am calling lawfare. It isn't just damaging our security, it's also damaging our prosperity."

Days before her bombastic address, Badenoch levelled a direct attack against Lord Hermer for his ECHR support.

"Hermer doesn't understand Government. He believes in the rule of lawyers, not the rule of law," she spat.

In response, a spokesman for the Attorney General said he "gave a speech defending international law which underpins our security, protects against threats from aggressive states like Russia and helps tackle organised immigration crime".

The spokesman added: "He rejects the characterisation of his speech by the Conservatives. He acknowledges, though, that his choice of words was clumsy and regrets having used this reference."