Prime Minister Keir Starmer has thrown Westminster’s weight behind a campaign to reinterpret key clauses of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) so that countries can deport more irregular migrants, arguing that failure to act risks fuelling the continent’s far-right surge.
In an op-ed and radio interviews ahead of today’s Council of Europe summit in Strasbourg, the Prime Minister said Articles 3 and 8—protecting individuals from degrading treatment and guaranteeing the right to family life—have been applied “too expansively” by domestic and Strasbourg courts. He called for a new political declaration that would instruct judges to give greater weight to states’ interests in controlling borders.
![Starmer urges European leaders to narrow ECHR protections in migration cases]()
Starmer’s proposal, drafted jointly with Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen, would let governments restrict appeal rights for people who arrive unlawfully and cap annual refugee resettlement quotas. Downing Street says the UK will not withdraw from the Convention, but critics fear Britain is edging towards the position once championed by the previous Conservative administration.
Human-rights groups, several Labour MPs and the Law Society have condemned the move, warning it risks undermining international legal norms. The Bar Council noted that British courts already balance public-interest factors and that wholesale reinterpretation could spark years of litigation.
For global mobility teams the signal is two-fold. First, corporate relocations that rely on Article 8 (family-unity claims) may face stricter evidential tests; second, any shift in ECHR jurisprudence tends to ripple into other Council of Europe states, potentially affecting assignee dependants elsewhere in Europe.
In an op-ed and radio interviews ahead of today’s Council of Europe summit in Strasbourg, the Prime Minister said Articles 3 and 8—protecting individuals from degrading treatment and guaranteeing the right to family life—have been applied “too expansively” by domestic and Strasbourg courts. He called for a new political declaration that would instruct judges to give greater weight to states’ interests in controlling borders.
Starmer’s proposal, drafted jointly with Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen, would let governments restrict appeal rights for people who arrive unlawfully and cap annual refugee resettlement quotas. Downing Street says the UK will not withdraw from the Convention, but critics fear Britain is edging towards the position once championed by the previous Conservative administration.
Human-rights groups, several Labour MPs and the Law Society have condemned the move, warning it risks undermining international legal norms. The Bar Council noted that British courts already balance public-interest factors and that wholesale reinterpretation could spark years of litigation.
For global mobility teams the signal is two-fold. First, corporate relocations that rely on Article 8 (family-unity claims) may face stricter evidential tests; second, any shift in ECHR jurisprudence tends to ripple into other Council of Europe states, potentially affecting assignee dependants elsewhere in Europe.
