Sir Keir Starmer should "decouple" Britain's laws from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to allow more small boat migrants to be deported, a former Labour home secretary said.
Jack Straw, who oversaw the incorporation of the ECHR into British law, said it was now being "misused" by British courts in some cases to stand in the way of deportations.
He told the Financial Times: "There is no doubt at all that the convention — and crucially its interpretation — is now being used in ways which were never, ever intended when the instrument was drafted in the late 40s and early 50s."
Nigel Farage has long supported leaving the convention, a move he said he will make if Reform UK comes into power.
Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday where he set out a raft of legal changes his party plans to make, he said the Good Friday Agreement could be "renegotiated" to remove references to it.
The Human Rights Act, which brings the convention into law, would be replaced with a British Bill of Rights under the party's plans.
This would only apply to British citizens and those who have a legal right to live in Britain.
Downing Street has however ruled out leaving the convention, with Mr Starmer’s spokesman saying: “The ECHR underpins key international agreements, trade, security and migration and the Good Friday Agreement."
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Scottish Government 'haven't wanted to debate immigration', says Reform leader
Nigel Farage has warned awareness of illegal immigration will 'get bigger'
|GB NEWS
When asked about how Reform UK's approach to tackling illegal immigration in Scotland compared to the party's approach in England, Nigel Farage said: "Well clearly there are some areas that need to be dealt with differently but there is also a lot of commonality.
"There hasn't been a great debate about immigration in Scotland because frankly none of the parties in Holyrood have been wanting to have that debate. So we have not really been having it.
"Over the last few weeks there is a growing awareness of the issue and I predicted from the podium a few minutes ago it will get bigger inevitably. It will get bigger."
'Economic madness': Nigel Farage slams Labour's push for renewable energy contracts
Nigel Farage has slammed the Government's push for renewable energy contracts and says Scotland stands to benefit "far more from oil and gas" than other parts of the UK.
The Reform UK leader said: "What Scotland gives England an example of is the sheer stupidity of not aiming to be self sufficient in energy because clearly the Scottish economy is going to benefit far more from oil and gas than other regions or other parts of the UK.
"I think it's absolutely tragic and self-defeating and stupid what we're doing to the North Sea.
"It just makes no sense at all. It is absolutely crazy on every single level. Economic madness.
"The argument that wind power makes us less reliant on other sources of energy around the world just is not true.
"The National Grid is not fit to deal with intermittent renewable energy and frankly if you look at what has happened with energy costs with wind, one of the biggest lies we have been told is that it will give us cheaper energy - it does not."
Tory MSP defects to Reform
Conservative MSP Graham Simpson has defected to Reform UK
|GB NEWS/YOUTUBE
Conservative MSP Graham Simpson has defected to Reform UK.
Graham Simpson has become the party’s first MSP with his defection.
Announcing his defection at the party's press conference held in Edingburgh today, Mr Simpson said: "Leaving the party that I first joined when I was 15 is an enormous wrench and I have been through a lot of soul searching in the past few weeks."
He added: "I honestly thought the most likely scenario for me would be to move on to the next stage of my life and find a job in one of the sectors that really interest me such as housing or transport.
"And although finding a job may not have been easy, I think I have enough respect out there to have got something that would have excited me.
"But I have watched Reform with interest and I see the opportunity to help them create something fresh here in Scotland and it is clear the voters agree in increasing numbers."
He went on to say the decision had "really not been easy".
Back in June, the Central Scotland MSP denied claims he has held talks with Reform and is considering defecting.
Martyn Greene, Reform UK’s Scottish director, said he had met with several Tory MSPs who were interested in joining the party including Graham Simpson.
But when asked about the meeting by the Sunday Mail, Mr Simpson denied it had taken place and said he “wouldn’t even know how to contact” Greene.
Number of arrivals into Britain is 'an invasion', says Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage has described the number of arrivals into Britain by illegal immigrants as an "invasion".
"It is an invasion as these young men illegally break into our country, the Clacton MP said.
"I did my best in 2020, I warned everybody unless we deport the crisis will worsen considerably but I'm afraid the Conservative Government for the first few years did literally nothing.
"And then belatedly they put in place a Rwanda plan, they put in place legislation but none of it could work because they hadn't got the courage to face up to the legal obstacles that made sure - despite spending huge amounts of money on these plans - that nothing was actually going to happen."
'Mood in Britain is mix between total despair and rising anger': Nigel Farage discussing illegal immigration and small boats
Nigel Farage is discussing illegal immigration at a conference in Edinburgh
|YOUTUBE/REFORM UK
Nigel Farage said there is a "genuine threat to public order" as he discusses illegal immigration and the small boats crisis in Edinburgh.
The Reform MP said: "650 people yesterday arrived into Dover and last I heard this morning there are many more boats on the way today.
"That will take us up to about 52,000 since this prime minister came into power the mood in the country around this issue is a mix between total despair and rising anger.
"I would say this: that without action, without somehow the contract between the Government and the people being renewed, without some trust coming back, I fear deeply that anger will grow.
"In fact, I think now as a result of this, there is a genuine threat to public order."
Nigel Farage due to make 'special announcement'
Nigel Farage will make an announcement shortly in Scotland.
The Reform UK leader wrote to X: "I will make a special announcement in Edinburgh this morning.
"Watch it from 11am in all the usual places."
'If we can't deport foreign paedophiles then we must change things': Labour MP says ECHR being 'misinterpreted'
Labour MP Mike Tapp said the ECHR is being 'misinterpreted'
|X/MIKE TAPP
Sir Keir Starmer is facing mounting pressure from members of his own party to assess the ECHR, as Labour MP Mike Tapp says it is being "misinterpreted".
In a video posted to X, the Dover and Deal MP said: "We are not a nation to be walked over and some judgements of the ECHR are abusing it.
"Article 3 [prohibits torture] and Article 8 [right to respect for private and family life] are being misinterpreted and that needs sorting.
"We are firm but we are fair, but if we can't deport foreign paedophiles, something is going wrong."
The Labour politician wrote alongside the video: "If we can’t deport foreign paedophiles then we must change things to ensure we can. That’s what legislators do."
Keir Starmer blasts Nigel Farage as 'not serious' for wanting to leave ECHR which would put Britain 'on par with Russia and Belarus'
Sir Keir Starmer has said anyone who is proposing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are "not serious" after Nigel Farage revealed plans to do exactly that.
After the Reform UK leader outlined a series of legal changes his party would make if it was to come into power in a bid to tackle illegal immigration, Mr Starmer's official spokesman said: "Anyone who is proposing to renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement is not serious."
"We’re focused on the very serious policies to address this issue rather than a return to the gimmicks, the slogans, the chaos of the previous government," the spokesman added.
Instead of leaving the convention, the Government has stood by the fact that it should instead be reformed.
'Nigel Farage produces unrealistic promises', says Labour minister
Nick Thomas-Symonds MP says Nigel Farage produces 'unrealistic promises'
|GB NEWS
A Government minister has said Nigel Farage produces "outlandish" and "unrealistic promises".
Speaking to GB News, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Minister for EU Relations, referenced a speech delivered by the Reform UK leader yesterday about his party's plans to tackle illegal immigration.
He said: "We saw yesterday from Nigel Farage he likes to stow grievance then produces completely outlandish, unrealistic promises to solve them.
"We heard from him bout detention but he wont tell you where people are going to be detained, he is asked abut women and children but he isn't able to give you an answer and frankly the idea of him seeking to negotiate with hostile regimes [like the Taliban] when he can't even negotiate the politics of a parliamentary party that would fit in the back of a taxi I find quite difficult to take seriously."
Tories could 'potentially' strike deal with Taliban-run Afghanistan over migration - party chair
The Conservatives could “potentially” strike a deal with Afghanistan over migration, the party’s chairman has said.
Asked directly if the Tories would set up a returns agreement with the Taliban-run country, Kevin Hollinrake told Times Radio: “Well, potentially, yes.”
The former minister added that his party’s deportation plan, which was published in May, is “far more comprehensive than the one we’ve seen from Reform, in that it dealt with both legal migration and illegal migration”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had refused to say whether she would consider seeking such an agreement when pressed on the issue on Tuesday.
A senior Taliban official meanwhile told The Telegraph it is "ready and willing" to work with Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader said his party plans to return migrants back to countries including Afghanistan if it is to come into power.
Nigel Farage will 'do nothing' says Elon Musk as he publicly backs Advance UK
Elon Musk has publicly backed Ben Habib's Advance UK party - just months after turning away from Reform UK.
Mr Habib, whom Nigel Farage replaced as Reform's deputy leader with Richard Tice last summer, launched his own party in late June this year.
Speaking to GB News at the time, he billed it as a new "political force on the British political landscape" - but denied it would "split the Reform vote".
Now, Mr Musk has endorsed it on his social media platform X, saying: "Advance UK will actually drive change. Farage is weak sauce who will do nothing."
'Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage would shackle Britain to dirty fossil fuels' - Sir Ed Davey
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said the Tories and Reform would push Britain 'into the arms of Vladimir Putin'
|GETTY
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has hit out at Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, saying the party leaders would "shackle" Britain to "dirty fossil fuels" in response to the energy price cap rise.
Sir Ed Davey said: "The last thing struggling families and pensioners need is higher energy bills this winter.
"The Government should cancel this rise and take up our plan to halve energy bills instead.
“Ministers should be cutting bills by making sure energy firms pass on the benefits of cheap renewables, not putting up bills yet again.
“Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage would only make things even worse by shackling us to expensive, dirty fossil fuels, pushing us into the arms of Vladimir Putin."
The Liberal Democrats have previously revealed plans to halve energy bills for a typical household by 2035.
Labour blasts Nigel Farage's 'unpatriotic war on clean energy' as energy bills set to rise this winter
Energy bills are set to rise by two per cent this winter - double the rate that was expected.
Regulator Ofgem has increased the energy price cap even further to £1,755 - a hike of £35 from the current level.
The price cap regulates the maximum amount which can be charged per unit of gas and electricity and affects 21 million households in England, Scotland and Wales.
In response to the energy price cap rise, a Labour Party spokesman said: “Energy bills soared under the Conservatives because they tied our country to the fossil fuel rollercoaster and working people are still paying the price.
"From banning onshore wind to failing to deliver new nuclear, their reckless decisions left Britain exposed to wholesale gas prices that are still 75 per cent higher than before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“That’s why Nigel Farage’s unpatriotic war on clean energy would be a total disaster for families, businesses and our economy.
"His destructive plans would push bills higher, kill nearly a million jobs and scrap billions of pounds of vital investment across the country that will strengthen our energy security."