Keir Starmer begs European leaders to modernise ECHR | UK | News
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on European leaders to take swift action to block common human rights laws in a desperate bid to encourage member states to impose stronger measures to protect their borders and counter the rise of the populist right across the continent, The Press Association reports.
Ahead of Wednesday’s key European summit, Starmer called on members to “go further” on modernizing their interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent asylum seekers using it to avoid deportation.
Under sweeping changes announced last month, the government said it wanted to introduce measures that would prevent asylum seekers from exercising their ECHR right to family life to avoid deportation. The Conservatives and the Reform Party have called for a complete withdrawal from the convention.
Starmer and Danish leader call for joint action to tackle migration challenges
Writing for the Guardian, the prime minister said it was urgently necessary to update the interpretation of the convention to confront the challenges posed by mass migration and far-right forces seeking to divide mainstream opinion across Europe.
“The best way to fight against the forces of hatred and division is to show that mainstream, progressive politics can solve this problem,” he wrote in a joint article with Danish leader Mette Frederiksen. he wrote.
“The purpose of our politics is to listen to legitimate concerns and act on them. This is democracy, not empty populism. We are determined to show that our societies can act with compassion while maintaining law, order and justice.”
The two leaders called on their European allies to go further in tackling the common migration challenge by modernizing the ECHR to reflect the challenges of the 21st century.
“Europe has faced great challenges before and we have overcome them by acting together. Now we must do it again. Otherwise, the forces trying to divide us will become even stronger.
“So our message is this: As responsible, progressive governments, we will deliver the change people are crying out for. We will control our borders to protect our democracies and make our nations stronger than ever in the years to come.”
UK seeks to emulate Denmark’s strict asylum model
The UK has sought to emulate Denmark’s strict asylum model. The government, which will be represented by Justice Minister David Lammy and Attorney General Richard Hermer at the Strasbourg meeting, is understood to be considering all options to update the implementation of the ECHR.
The political declaration proposed as a result of the summit will carry significant political weight and, if it has a sufficient number of signatories, could directly influence how the European Court of Human Rights will interpret and apply ECHR rights.
The government has already said it will legislate to clarify how Article 8, the right to privacy, is interpreted in domestic courts in terms of immigration rules.
Lammy is expected to argue on Wednesday that the ECHR could be reinterpreted to limit the scope of rights under Article 3, which prohibits torture and “degrading treatment”.
This could include, for example, higher thresholds for prison conditions or access to healthcare abroad, which currently prevents extradition or deportation from the UK.
Deputy Prime Minister to reaffirm UK commitment to ECHR and warn against withdrawal
The deputy prime minister is expected to re-emphasise the UK’s commitment to the ECHR and say withdrawal would be a “fake solution”.
He is expected to tell the summit: “We must strike a careful balance between individual rights and public interests, otherwise we risk losing confidence in the convention and human rights.
“The definition of ‘family life’ cannot be broadened to prevent the deportation of persons who have no right to remain in the country… The threshold of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ should be limited to the most serious matters.”
“For us to renew the democratic basis of the Convention, states must be able to take proportionate decisions on the elimination of foreign criminals.”
