Starmer urges Europe’s leaders to update ECHR to halt rise of far right | Human rights

Keir Starmer has called on European leaders to urgently update common human rights laws so member states can take tougher action to protect their borders and stop the rise of the populist right across the continent.

Ahead of a key European summit on Wednesday, the prime minister called on other members to “go further” in modernizing the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent asylum seekers using it to avoid deportation.

But Labor has been condemned for calling for change, with human rights advocates, Labor colleagues and some MPs arguing it could open the door to countries abandoning some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Critics of the government’s asylum changes also argue that the prime minister should not water down protections that are tilting to the right, amid deepening concerns that charities’ rhetoric could demonize refugees.

On the eve of the European Council summit in Strasbourg, actors Michael Palin, Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley were among 21 prominent figures calling on Starmer to abandon plans to weaken human rights law and instead “take a principled stand” for torture victims.

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.

But writing for the Guardian, the prime minister said the convention needed to be urgently updated to face the challenges of mass immigration 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.

“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.”

The UK has sought to emulate Denmark’s strict asylum model. The number of people granted asylum in the country last year was the lowest in 40 years, excluding 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

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.

The deputy prime minister said withdrawal would be a “fake solution” that would re-emphasise the UK’s commitment to the ECHR and undermine any international agreement on national and border security.

He is expected to say the following at 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 expanded 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.”

The sweeping changes to the UK asylum system come against the backdrop of Nigel Farage’s UK Reform gaining support over the failure of successive governments to stop unauthorized small boat crossings in the Channel and unease over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

These include measures such as forcing people with refugee status to return to their home country if it becomes safe to do so, making people arriving illegally wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement, and canceling the legal obligation to provide asylum seekers with support, including housing and weekly allowances.

The government will introduce new safe and legal routes to the UK as a way to reduce the number of dangerous journeys by small boats across the Channel, but these routes will be restricted, ministers said.

Some Labor MPs, charities and legal experts have warned that if a country like the UK dilutes the application of Article 3, less conscientious nations could follow suit, with dire consequences.

Veronika Fikfak, professor of international law at University College London, said that the amendment to the anti-torture provisions in the ECHR “touches the very essence” of the convention.

“The prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment is an absolute right. It allows no balancing. There is no margin of appreciation or respect for states,” he said.

Lammy will meet ministers from 45 other countries to discuss possible changes at Wednesday’s meeting. Nine member states, including Italy and Denmark, signed a letter in May calling for limiting the scope of the ECHR.