PM urges Europe to curb human rights laws to halt rise of populism

Exclusive Starmer calls for urgent overhaul to tackle immigration fears

- Pippa Crerar Rajeev Syal

Keir Starmer called on European leaders yesterday to urgently curb joint human rights laws so member states could take tougher action to protect borders and see off the rise of the populist right across the continent.

On the eve of today's Council of Europe summit in Strasbourg, the prime minister urged members to "go further" in modernising the interpretation of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) to prevent refused asylum seekers using it to avoid deportation.

But Labour has been condemned for calling for changes. Human rights campaigners, Labour peers and some MPs argue that alterations could allow countries to abandon some of the world's most vulnerable people.

Critics of the government's asylum plans also argue that Starmer should not pander to the right by diluting protections amid deepening concerns from charities that its rhetoric could demonise refugees.

The actors Michael Palin, Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley were among 21 well-known figures calling on Starmer to drop plans to weaken human rights law and instead "take a principled stand" for torture victims.

Under the changes announced last month, the government said it wanted to introduce measures to stop asylum seekers using their rights in the ECHR to a family life to avoid deportation. The Tories and Reform UK have both called for withdrawal from the convention altogether.

But writing for the Guardian website, the prime minister said updating the interpretation of the convention was urgently required to confront the challenges posed by mass migration - and far-right forces that sought to divide mainstream opinion across Europe.

"The best way of fighting against the forces of hate and division is to show that mainstream, progressive politics can fix this problem," he wrote in a joint article with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen.