Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to review how UK courts interpret international human rights laws as part of his government’s bid to reduce immigration and accelerate deportations.
In an interview aired on Wednesday, Starmer said Britain must “look again” at the application of treaties such as the Refugee Convention, the Convention Against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“I’m not going to tear all that down,” Starmer told BBC Radio. “But all international instruments, long-established as they are, have to be applied in the circumstances of today.”
The Labour leader stressed that while those genuinely fleeing persecution would still be granted asylum, Britain was now experiencing “mass migration in a way we haven’t seen before.”
Starmer’s comments follow his warning at Labour’s annual conference that the country faces a “battle for the soul of the country,” as irregular Channel crossings and legal migration numbers hit record highs.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has pledged to withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, does not support scrapping the treaty but wants courts to narrow their interpretation of protections.
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He cited Article 3 of the ECHR — often used by migrants to block deportations — as an example. “There’s a difference between someone being deported to summary execution and someone who is simply going somewhere with lower healthcare standards or harsher prison conditions,” he said.
Article 8, which protects the right to family life, is also under review. The government has previously pledged new laws to “clarify” its application after courts allowed some migrants to remain in the UK with relatives under exceptional circumstances.
But rights campaigners have warned against weakening protections. Akiko Hart, director of Liberty, said Starmer’s approach risks “setting us on a path to undermining the rights of every person in Britain.”