LABOUR’S law chief has sparked incredulity for insisting nothing is “off the table” in stopping small boats – except quitting the European Convention of Human Rights.
Cabinet Minister Lord Hermer said leaving the treaty would actually harm the government’s efforts to end the Channel crisis.
Britain’s migrant crisis is at an all-time highGetty
AlamyLord Hermer has ruled out quitting the ECHR[/caption]
Senior figures in Reform, the Tories and even Labour want to abandon the Strasbourg Convention over concerns it is thwarting serious attempts to grip illegal migration.
Critics have warned that our obligations under the treaty – and others – is preventing ministers from instantly deporting asylum seekers.
But a peaking to peers yesterday, Attorney General Lord Hermer said: “As some people are now advocating, to leave, would be entirely counterproductive if what we are seeking is not rhetorical answers but real practical answers.
“If we leave, those deals go. No one’s going to enter agreements to us if we’re not complying with the same standards across the im immigration and asylum system. It would be contrary to the national interest.
“It would be impractical and of course it would do, I think, great damage to this country’s long fought for reputation as a leader in international law.”
Lord Hermer said the returns deal with France, which is yet to see a single migrant sent back, would not have been signed were Britain outside the ECHR.
He was slammed by Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, who blasted: “Lord Hermer is spouting a load of nonsense. The EU returns tens of thousands of migrants to non-ECHR countries every year.
“That’s what normal counties do. The argument to stay in the broken ECHR is collapsing.”
However Lord Hermer did admit that abuses of Article 8 in UK courts needed to be reviewed as promised by the Home Secretary.
But he said that any serious reform of the ECHR could take years, despite other countries lobbying for change.
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