Minister: We'll keep Britain in the ECHR

LABOUR will not pull the UK out of the controversial European Convention on Human Rights, the Defence Secretary has confirmed.

- By Michael Knowles

John Healey said that the Government was looking at how “we can tighten the interpretation and the application” of the ECHR.

But he stressed that the UK would not quit as “it would put us in a club with Russia and Belarus”.

Shabana Mahmood’s appointment as Home Secretary last week prompted many to suggest Labour would take a tougher stance.

Ms Mahmood had warned that British judges take a “maximalist” approach to the convention.