No ‘silver bullet’ to tackle irregular migration – UK minister

Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights would make it “significantly harder” to stop migrants travelling to the UK by small boat, a government minister said on Wednesday after a hard-right party outlined plans to ditch the treaty.

The anti-immigration Reform UK party has proposed leaving the ECHR and that it would seek to deport up to 600,000 asylum seekers within five years if it wins the next general election, expected in 2029.

But minister for European Union relations Nick Thomas-Symonds rejected the idea that quitting the convention would be a “silver bullet” to solve the immigration crisis.

“Leaving the ECHR and joining Belarus and Russia as the two other European nations who are not signatories, that is not going to assist with getting the international cooperation that we need to tackle this issue,” Thomas-Symonds told reporters.

“In fact, it’s going to make it significantly harder to do it,” he said.

Reform says it will leave the ECHR and replace the current Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, which would apply only to British citizens and those who have a legal right to live in the UK.

Party leader Nigel Farage is tapping into anger over the record number of migrant arrivals as the governing Labour party slumps in the polls.

More than 50,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats from northern France since Labour’s Keir Starmer became prime minister just over a year ago, despite his pledge to “smash the gangs” enabling the crossings.

But Thomas-Symonds stressed international cooperation was “critical” to shutting down the people smuggling networks.

“The people smugglers operate over thousands of miles and numerous borders,” he said.

“So what we are interested in is the hard yards of delivery on this. There isn’t a silver bullet,” he added.

Data last week showed that 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June, the highest for any 12-month period since records began in 2001.

Labour says it has sent back more than 35,000 failed asylum seekers since returning to power in July 2024.

Public anger over the issue has become focused on hotels being used to house the migrants, a policy introduced by the last Conservative government.

According to official data, there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March.

They have become the focus of anti-immigration demonstrations around England, with most passing off peacefully under a tight police presence.

Latest YouGov polling found that 71 percent of voters believe Starmer is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56 percent of Labour supporters.

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