The foreign secretary has defied the Tory right by arguing that the UK should remain a signatory of the European convention on human rights (ECHR), as Rishi Sunak caves to demands from hard-right MPs to ignore European court rulings on small boats.
James Cleverly said he was “not convinced” that leaving the ECHR was necessary to ensure the immigration system was robust, and that the UK had the clout to push for changes if needed, prompting speculation he may be uncomfortable with the move.
The development comes as the government prepares to propose safe and legal routes for refugees to come to the UK next year, in a move meant to placate the party’s left.
In an interview with the Guardian after the G7 summit in Japan, Cleverly said the UK should not wish to join Belarus and Russia, the only European countries outside the ECHR, after some Tory MPs called for the UK to withdraw.
“European countries which are not part of the ECHR is a small club. I am not convinced it is a club we want to be part of,” he said. “That is not suggesting that the interpretation of human rights by judges is something I think has worked well. But it is my job as foreign secretary to get stuff changed.”
Cleverly was speaking before the prime minister’s decision to cave in to hard-right MPs’ demands to allow the UK to ignore rulings from the European court of human rights on small boat crossings.
Backbench rebels have been pushing Sunak to harden the illegal migration bill so that ministers can ignore interim rulings of the European court of human rights. One of the Strasbourg court’s rule 39 injunctions blocked the government’s first attempt to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda last year.
These so-called interim measures are typically used to suspend an expulsion or extradition, often by asylum seekers who fear persecution if they are returned to their home country. Between 2020 and 2022, the European court granted 12 of 161 applications for interim measures against the UK government.
However, Cleverly suggested changes should be made with the agreement of European partners rather than unilaterally. “In terms of our international agreements, these things get amended and changed all the time. I think some people underestimate how much influence we have on the world stage,” he said.
“Sometimes when some people say we have got to leave the ECHR, what I hear is they think we don’t have the standing or the authority or influence to make changes or amendments that need to be made. I don’t buy into that. We are a serious player on the world stage.
“Some of the issues we are facing are also being faced by everybody else. We need to make sure that everything, not just the ECHR, is fit for purpose. But we are not passive recipients. We have influence.”
Sunak had previously sought to delay announcing any new routes until he had implemented plans to detain people arriving in the UK and deport them to their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda.
But after negotiations with Tim Loughton, a member of the home affairs select committee who had the backing of Labour, the government will back proposals to set up new schemes approved by parliament after consultations with local authorities.
In a move that could cause the government further headaches, Labour is proposing an amendment that would force consultations with local authorities before setting up new accommodation such as hotels or barges for asylum seekers.
Conservative MPs are under pressure from many of their core voters to stop hotels being placed in their constituencies, and Labour believes that many will be asked to support the amendment.
Ministers have been warned by a former head of the judiciary that plans to let the UK ignore rulings from the European court of human rights on small boat crossings could be defeated in the Lords.
John Thomas, who was lord chief justice of England and Wales from 2013 to 2017, said the move would probably amount to a “symbolic breach of the rule of law”.
