Labour to raise removals by targeting right to family life

Shabana Mahmood will set out her revamp of immigration today – and officials say it will draw heavily on Danish ideas

- CAITLIN DOHERTY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Labour will overhaul human rights laws to make it easier to deport foreign criminals and small boat migrants as part of a major immigration crackdown.

Under sweeping reforms unveiled by the home secretary, the government will attempt to change the way the European Convention on Human Rights is interpreted by UK judges in a bid to stop asylum seekers using their rights to a family life to avoid deportation.

Home Office officials have claimed the ECHR “is allowing large numbers of people to stay in the UK, against the public’s wishes”, and that new legislation will allow Britain to ramp up the number of removals.

The radical measures are part of a much-publicised reform of the asylum system, billed by the government as “the most sweeping reforms in modern times”, as Labour looks to see off the threat of Reform UK and Nigel Farage.

But critics have hit out at the proposals, warning any move to alter how the UK interprets the rules will drive asylum seekers underground and leave them vulnerable to exploitation.

Sile Reynolds, the head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said the changes “will punish people who've already lost everything”. The measures could also spark discontent on the backbenches, with one Labour MP accusing the party leadership of “chasing Reform”. They told The Independent: “The dehumanisation of people in desperation is the antithesis of what the Labour Party is about.”

Announcing the changes, Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, said: “Britain has always been a fair, tolerant and compassionate country - and this government will always defend those values. But, in a more volatile world, people need to know our borders are secure and rules are enforced. These reforms will block endless appeals, stop last-minute claims and scale up removals of those with no right to be here.”