Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has said that his government is willing to look at how international human rights law is used in the UK again in order to make it easier to remove asylum seekers who don’t meet the requirements.
Sir Keir told the BBC that he does not plan to get rid of current human rights protections, but he did say that some parts of the European Convention on Human Rights may need to be looked at again. He specifically mentioned Article 3, which protects people from torture and cruel or degrading treatment. He said that it has been used more and more in appeals to stop deportation based on prison conditions or healthcare standards in the countries where people are going.
The prime minister said that the UK needs to keep giving people who are really fleeing persecution a place to stay, but that the recent high levels of mass migration call for a more balanced approach. “We need to make sure that the system works fairly and well,” he said.
His comments come after the home secretary made new suggestions to make it harder for migrants to get indefinite leave to stay. The government says these steps are needed to keep the immigration system honest, but critics say they could hurt the UK’s long-standing commitment to human rights.
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