Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Wednesday tell European ambassadors in Strasbourg that the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) must be reformed to ensure it does not stop countries controlling their borders.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood (Photo: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu)
Mahmood will point to the Government’s ongoing review of Article 8’s right to family life of the ECHR – blamed for many of the controversial deportation-blocking cases – but she will add that after years of the migration crisis, there needs to be wider reform.
The Justice Secretary will also highlight the need to deport foreign criminals while space in the country’s jails is at a premium and the Government has been forced into sentencing reform that will see some convicts spend less time behind bars.
Last week, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch launched a review into whether the UK should quit the ECHR.
Recent polls have put Reform ahead of Labour and the party won hundreds of councillors in May’s local elections, taking control of several authorities. Keir Starmer has said that Reform is now the main opposition to Labour.
However, one Labour MP warned this week that attempting to renegotiate the convention might end up like David Cameron’s renegotiation of the UK’s membership of the EU, which was ultimately rejected by voters in the 2016 referendum that led to Brexit.
“But like the EU, it’s an issue because things don’t work and people see unfairness.”
Channel crisis is hurting Labour
Migrants wade in the sea as they try to board a dinghy in the English Channel in Gravelines, France, this week (Photo by Carl Court/Getty)Labour MP Steve Yemm told The i Paper: “I do think the UK should now put itself at the forefront of making the case for reform of the ECHR. Articles 3 and 8 have unintended consequence and are clearly creating barriers for example in deporting foreign criminals.
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Some Labour MPs suggested that the Home Office was “nervous” about targeting the ECHR unilaterally as it may jeopardise migration deals with countries such as France and Germany, who are also Council of Europe members, as well as impact the EU trade deals and the Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland.
Responding to the MPs, Home Office sources pointed to the Article 8 review and said they would not preempt its findings.
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