SNP MPs will oppose any attempts by the UK Government to remove the country from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the party’s Europe spokesperson has said.
Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman are apparently finalising proposals for the most extreme immigration legislation the UK has ever seen which will take it to the “boundaries” of international law.
But senior figures have said if the legislation is deemed unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the PM is content to look at withdrawing from the ECHR.
The idea has come on the back of an anticipated 50% spike in migrant arrivals on last year, with 65,000 expected.
Alyn Smith, the SNP’s Europe spokesperson at Westminster, has said the UK played an important role in drafting the ECHR and the SNP would be unprepared to accept Scotland being dragged out of it.
He told The National: “In the aftermath of the Second World War, the UK played a crucial role in drafting the ECHR.
“Now, because of the narrow ideological obsession of the Prime Minister, it faces being an outlier on the world stage.
"SNP MPs will oppose any attempts by the Tory government to remove Scotland from the ECHR.”
A source said to be familiar with Sunak’s thinking told The Times the Tories are confident the plans would stand up to any test in the domestic courts.
They added: “But if this legislation gets onto the statute book and is found to be lawful by our domestic courts, but it is still being held up in Strasbourg, then we know the problem is not our legislation or our courts.
“If that’s the case, then of course he will be willing to reconsider whether being part of the ECHR is in the UK’s long-term interests.”
The Greens have said the plans are part of a Tory ploy to “dismantle the very concept of asylum”.
North East MSP Maggie Chapman the fact it was even being discussed shows how extreme the UK Government has become.
She said: “These proposals are a disgrace. Since Brexit, we have seen an increasingly reactionary Tory party desperately isolating itself as far as possible from the world around us.
"They have hammered our economy, raising prices and plunging families and to poverty and have already inflicted some of the brutal anti-migrant policies in Europe.
"The people who have crossed the Channel deserve support, security and solidarity, not the disgraceful hostility and scapegoating of the broken and racist Home Office.
"The fact that this is even being discussed is a sign of how toxic and extreme this UK government has become.
"The Tories are dismantling the very concept of asylum. This would further punish and persecute people who have left some of the worst war zones in the world.
"With the powers of a normal independent country we could do things differently and follow a humanitarian and welcoming immigration policy."
