Britain will not leave the European Convention on Human Rights despite a growing number of Labour bigwigs demanding withdrawal to curb Channel crossings, Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed.
The Prime Minister made the announcement during a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after being probed on the matter by Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey.
Sir Ed called on the Prime Minister to categorically rule out withdrawing from the ECHR, suspending it or “watering down our rights in any way”.
Sir Keir replied: “Mr Speaker, I will not be withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights.
The Prime Minister has been urged to quit the convention in a bid to stop small boat crossings
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“We do need to make sure both the convention and other instruments are fit for the circumstances we face at the moment.
“Therefore, we have been looking at the interpretation of some of those provisions. It would be a profound mistake to pull out of these instruments.
“The first thing that would follow is every other country in the world that adheres to these agreements would pull out of all the agreements with this country.
“That would be catastrophic for dealing with the problem we’re actually dealing with.”
Ed Davey sought confirmation Britain's ECHR status will be protected
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It comes after ex-Home Secretary Jack Straw said leaving the ECHR would not jeopardise the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mr Straw said stepping away will have little impact on the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal which was introduced to stop the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
In a report for the Policy Exchange think tank, Mr Straw did not say whether he thinks Britain should leave the convention, but “nothing in the Belfast Agreement rules it out as a viable course of action”.
He added that the Policy Exchange “helps clear the ground” for a debate on leaving the convention.
Nigel Farage is a vocal critic of the convention
| Nigel FarageThe Government is under pressure to get a grip on the small boat crisis, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage suggesting the Good Friday Agreement could be “renegotiated”.
Mr Farage also argued that removing references to the convention will clear the path to quitting the ECHR.
The Reform UK leader wants a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the convention in law.
However, the Prime Minister has argued that leaving the ECHR would put Britain in the same bracket as Russia and Belarus.
Nigel Farage has long supported Britain leaving the ECHR | GETTYThe ECHR was developed to make sure Governments would never be allowed to dehumanise and abuse people’s rights in the wake of the Second World War.
Critics argue that it limits the UK’s ability to control its immigration policies, thus providing a risk to national security.
The ECHR stood in the way of the previous Government’s Rwanda scheme by issuing a number of injunctions which halted planes set to take off.
Article 3 and Article 8 have also proved particularly problematic on occasions when the UK has attempted to deport foreign criminals.