Warning to Starmer over impact of weakening human rights safeguards

Keir Starmer risks creating a “hierarchy of people” by aligning the UK with hardline states seeking to tackle migration by constraining people’s rights, Europe’s most senior human rights official has said.

- Ashifa Kassam Rajeev Syal Pippa Crerar

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, said that “middle-of-theroad politicians” are playing into the hands of the populist right.

Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, he pointed to the “lazy correlation” of migration and crime as an example. “This doesn’t correspond with reality,” he said.

“For every inch yielded, there’s goingto be anotherinchdemanded,’ he said. “Where does it stop? For example, the focus right now is on migrants, in large part. But who is it going to be about next time?”

O'Flaherty said it was “very important” that politicians pointed out the importance of the European court of human rights’ (ECHR) core principles, suchas the principle that people are equalin terms of the universality of human rights.

“The idea that we would create or foster the impression of a hierarchy of people, some more deserving than others, is a very, very worrying one indeed,” he said.

His comments come after some of Europe’s governments, including the UK, moved a step closer to “constraining” human rights laws to allow Rwanda-style migration deals with third countries and more foreign criminals to be deported.