A justice minister has told Labour members that the UK will remain a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights – while stressing that the treaty must change if the British people are going to back it.
Barrister Jake Richards said the party was ‘absolutely committed’ to the convention and to Britain sticking to its obligations. Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool today, Richards drew a clear dividing line with the Conservatives and Reform UK, which have pledged to leave the ECHR.
But the minister noted that the treaty was a ‘living instrument’ and that the party should not be afraid to accept change. ‘I am very proud the UK government is playing its part in making sure that [reform of the ECHR] is a constructive process,' he said. 'That is the only way you get a policy that works, that is consistent with our obligations and which begins to try and win the public argument.
‘Leaving the ECHR is not going to help us tackle the small boats crisis one jot and anyone who says otherwise would be lying. It is important we make this argument. The Labour Party cannot be in a position where we simply defend what has happened before. We have to embrace realpolitik and what is happening across Europe.’
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Last year, the UK government argued for a 'fundamental reset' in the balance between an individual’s Article 8 rights and the public interest, to place a greater emphasis on compliance with domestic immigration rules. This culminated earlier this year in all 46 Council of Europe member states adopting a political declaration underlining and clarifying key aspects of the ECHR system, notably in the context of migration.
Shami Chakrabarti, the former shadow attorney general, said the British people were being ‘sold a lie’ by parties promising they would uphold existing rights even if they left the ECHR. She added: ‘The new prime minister has called Brexit a wrong track. Leaving the ECHR would be a massive motorway pile-up.’
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