"It was that sentiment that convinced Lammy's predecessor, Shabana Mahmood, now home secretary, that the UK should join the push to seek a declaration to change how the European convention of human rights should be interpreted. It was Mahmood who has made the determined argument from inside government that Labour must act to prevent the perceived overreach of human rights law or risk far worse if they lose the next election to the hard right."
"including Lammy, a veteran of the struggle for racial justice and Hermer, one of the most eminent human rights barristers of his generation, who were once considered sceptics of that mission. For many, it will be jarring to see how the UK has come to argue alongside countries like Hungary and Italy that the ECHR must advise domestic judges that they should narrow the definition of inhuman and degrading treatment as well as put curbs on the right to family life."
"But Lammy and Hermer are in Strasbourg alongside others on the centre-left in Europe Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland because of their view that the only way now to salvage the ECHR is to change how it can be applied. Ministers believe the UK can be a particularly influential voice in the debate. Under Keir Starmer, another former human rights lawyer, there is no question of the UK leaving the convention itself."
David Lammy and barrister Richard Hermer traveled to Strasbourg to advocate constraints on interpretations of the European Convention on Human Rights. Shabana Mahmood, as home secretary, convinced the UK to seek a declaration altering how the convention is applied, arguing that reform is necessary to prevent perceived overreach. The reform message, framed as 'reform or die,' has persuaded many Labour MPs formerly skeptical. The UK seeks to narrow definitions of inhuman and degrading treatment and curb aspects of the right to family life while remaining in the convention. Ministers view the UK as an influential voice for change.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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