Lord Blunkett urges Starmer to back away from ECHR
Sir Keir Starmer should deport foreign criminals and illegal migrants through deals with designated 'safe' countries that would override the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Lord Blunkett has said.
The former home secretary said Sir Keir should consider emulating the approach adopted by Sir Tony Blair's Labour Government where it designated countries as safe in bespoke agreements that 'superseded' the ECHR and enabled it to deport illegal migrants to their home states.
Lord Blunkett told The Telegraph it offered a way of overcoming human rights objections, which are currently threatening to undermine Labour's efforts to fast-track returns of foreign criminals and illegal migrants to their home countries.
His intervention follows calls by Jack Straw, the former justice secretary, and other Labour members for Sir Keir to back away from the ECHR.
The former new Labour cabinet minister said the ECHR was hampering effective border control due to 'expansive, and sometimes inconsistent or incoherent interpretations' of its articles by European judges.
Some Labour MPs have also urged ministers to set aside the ECHR and deport foreign criminals.
Last week, Jonathan Brash, the MP for Hartlepool, said the Government should exercise its 'perfectly legitimate' right to deport criminals by saying ECHR article eight rights to a family life do not apply in such cases.
It follows a series of cases exposed by The Telegraph where illegal migrants or convicted foreign criminals have exploited human rights laws to stay in the UK or halt their deportations.
Many have used articles three or eight of the ECHR, which, respectively, protect against persecution and safeguard the right to family life.
They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets and a Pakistani paedophile, who was jailed for child sex offences but escaped removal from the UK as it would be 'unduly harsh' on his own children.
There are a record 41,987 outstanding immigration appeals, with many based on human rights claims. The backlog has risen by nearly a quarter since September last year and is up nearly 500 per cent from just 7,173 at the start of 2022.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is considering whether to restrict foreign criminals and illegal migrants from exploiting the ECHR to block their deportations. She is reviewing how Article 8 of the ECHR is being applied by immigration courts to ensure it is being interpreted in a 'sensible' and 'proportionate' way.
Lord Blunkett said: 'The real issue is whether [the Government] designates safe countries, which is what we did back in the day. We had a list [of safe countries] that automatically superseded the ECHR because we had made a deliberate decision, a duty.
'We had done the proper background work on whether we believed this was safe within the ECHR and we got away with that. The [Government] needs to be really precise about which countries and why they are safe, whilst obviously taking account of those where there would be a genuine risk. It's never easy.'
He said he 'applauded' Theresa May, when she was home secretary, for adopting a similar approach, notably in deporting Abu Qatada, the al-Qaeda hate preacher, to Jordan after he claimed ECHR article three rights that he would be tortured if returned.
Lord Blunkett added: 'I can always applaud Theresa May for the agreement that, despite some considerable blockages from the Foreign Office, she managed to obtain with Jordan.
'That kind of highly focused, dedicated diplomacy works. It can open up potential countries for return that previously have been closed.'
He believed it was an approach that could counter immigration tribunal judges' concerns over ECHR rights.
'You have to show that you have done the due diligence and get all your ducks in order as to why a country is safe and that you have an agreement with it,' he said. 'You are on secure ground. You need the Home Office and Foreign Office to work together.'
Mr Straw made a similar argument where he said the UK's human rights legislation was robust enough for the UK to disregard 'undemocratic' ECHR judgments.
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