Starmer and hardline governments risk creating hierarchy of people' by constraining human rights

"Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said that middle-of the road 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 going to be another inch demanded, he said."

"Twenty-seven of the 46 Council of Europe members including the UK, Hungary and Italy signed an unofficial statement that also urges a new framework for the European convention of human rights, which will narrow the definition of inhuman and degrading treatment. The statement follows a meeting of the council in Strasbourg on Wednesday as part of a push to change the way the laws apply in migration cases."

Hardline European governments are moving to constrain human rights laws to facilitate Rwanda-style migration deals and wider deportations. A group of 27 Council of Europe members proposed narrowing the definition of inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 to allow proportionate expulsions. The proposal follows a Council meeting in Strasbourg aimed at changing how human rights laws apply in migration cases. There are concerns that curbing rights in response to migration fosters a hierarchy of people, erodes the universality of human rights, and risks incremental demands for further rollbacks of fundamental protections.

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