United Kingdom should lead on ECHR reform rather than quitting

The United Kingdom should be joining forces with other countries that are seeking changes to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), rather than threatening to quit, a UUP MLA has said.

Steve Aiken says the post-WW2 treaty is not “immutable” – and the UK should act with political autonomy and take the lead in amending it.

placeholder image — Steve Aiken has warned against the UK quitting the ECHR - saying the government should lead on reforming it.

ECHR withdrawal is now at the centre of national debate after comments from the Reform UK leader last week. Nigel Farage has argued that quitting the convention would be necessary to deal with the illegal immigration crisis – and that he would “renegotiate” the Belfast Agreement to achieve it.

However, he said that withdrawal would take longer for Northern Ireland, prompting concerns about the province’s place in the union being further undermined.

At the weekend, Policy Exchange published an analysis as to why they believe the UK without breaching the 1998 peace accord. Mr Aiken told the News Letter: “Lord Alton in the foreword to the Policy Exchange paper gets it; the ECHR is not, and never has been, immutable.

“With 9 members states of the Council of Europe calling for changes in the Court, in particular with reference to the treatment of illegal migration, the UK should be joining with these nations, including Denmark, Poland and Italy rather than proposing to withdraw.

“The question however, is why our coterie of UK superannuated human rights chambers barristers-cum-politicians aren’t taking this proactive and pragmatic action? Rather than chucking another large legal rock into the Supreme Court pond, act like we have political autonomy and take the lead in amending the ECHR.

“Bizarrely, by not taking this action, it further emboldens the ‘Faragists’ and risks undermining the Belfast Agreement. Mind you, if HM Government aren’t even willing to challenge Europe over trade on the Windsor Framework, it’s unsurprising that they can’t even take the first and most credible approach to the ECHR. There seems to be an ideological reason why those who sat for years on human rights cases don’t want to stand up for what’s best for our nation”, he said.