Former Labour Home Secretary Calls for Decoupling UK Laws from European Convention on Human Rights

Strategic Insights -

British laws derived from the European Convention on Human Rights are being "misused" to prevent deportations, claims former Labour home secretary Jack Straw. Straw, who helped draft the 1998 Human Rights Act, suggests that the convention is being interpreted in ways that were not intended when it was drafted in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The issue has become a pressing concern, with a surge in asylum seekers entering the UK and record-high small boat crossings.

Key Takeaways:

  • Former Labour home secretary Jack Straw calls for decoupling British laws from the European Convention on Human Rights to facilitate deportations of migrants arriving on small boats.
  • Straw suggests amending the 1998 Human Rights Act to allow courts not to take account of ECHR judgments, rather than triggering a withdrawal from the convention.
  • The use or misuse of the convention has become a major issue, with some court decisions citing rights to a family life as grounds for preventing deportations.
  • Labour MPs, including Lord David Blunkett, are considering elements of suspending the ECHR to allow for deportations and a backlog of cases to be brought down.
  • Polling group YouGov found that immigration has risen to the top of voters' primary concerns, with 71% of the public believing the government is handling the issue of small boat crossings badly.

Statistics:

  • 71% of the public believe the government is handling the issue of small boat crossings badly (YouGov polling).
  • Immigration has risen to the top of voters' primary concerns, overtaking the economy and health (YouGov polling).
  • Record-high small boat crossings have occurred this year.
  • 1998: The year the Human Rights Act was drafted, with Jack Straw's involvement.

Sources:

  • Straw, J., (no date), quoted conversation with author, "It's the misuse of it, I think and the way it's been interpreted, which is not as we intended".
  • Farage, N. (2023), quoted in "Nigel Farage calls for UK to pull out of European Convention on Human Rights".
  • YouGov (2023), found that immigration has risen to the top of voters' primary concerns.
  • The Guardian (no date), reported on the surge in asylum seekers entering the UK in the early years of Tony Blair's government.
  • The Telegraph (no date), commented on the harsher restrictions on asylum seekers in 2002, including enhanced deportation powers.
  • Number 10 (2023), deployed "graft, not soundbites" to tackle the migration problem.