What is the European Convention of Human Rights and why does Farage want out?
Labour minister Hilary Benn has said Nigel Farage has “no idea” what leaving the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) could mean for Northern Ireland.
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Reform leader Mr Farage drew the ire of the Northern Ireland secretary on Tuesday when he told supporters in Oxford that the right-wing party would withdraw if it came into power.
"Can we renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement to get the ECHR out of it?” Clacton MP Mr Farage said in his plans of how to tackle illegal immigration.
“Yes. Is that something that can happen very, very quickly? No, it will take longer.”
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Mr Benn said: "For Nigel Farage to talk flippantly about trying to remove one of the pillars of that historic agreement shows that he hasn’t got the faintest idea about the consequences.
"To jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement would not only be dangerously irresponsible, but would also disrespect all those who helped to bring about the peace that the people of Northern Ireland now enjoy."
While the debate is set to rumble on, here is what the ECHR is and what it means.
What is the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR)?
“The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) protects the human rights of people in countries that belong to the Council of Europe,” the official site states.
There are 47 states in this Strasbourg-based council and the UK is still a member, despite leaving the European Union.
“The convention consists of numbered articles protecting basic human rights,” the write up continued.
The UK made these rights part of its domestic law through the Human Rights Act 1998.
The convention secures:
- The right to life (Article 2),
- Freedom from torture (Article 3),
- Freedom from slavery (Article 4),
- The right to liberty (Article 5),
- The right to a fair trial (Article 6),
- The right not to be punished for something that wasn’t against the law at the time (Article 7),
- The right to respect for family and private life (Article 8),
- Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9),
- Freedom of expression (Article 10),
- Freedom of assembly (Article 11),
- The right to marry and start a family (Article 12),
- The right not to be discriminated against in respect of these rights (Article 14),
- The right to protection of property (Protocol 1, Article 1),
- The right to education (Protocol 1, Article 2),
- The right to participate in free elections (Protocol 1, Article 3),
- The abolition of the death penalty (Protocol 13)
Mr Farage has been pushing for the UK to leave the convention in order to speed up deportation processes by removing some of the rights of migrants.
The ECHR is fundamental to the Good Friday Agreement, struck by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 1998, as it acknowledged Northern Ireland’s right to exist and offered protections.
Downing Street has ruled out leaving the ECHR, with Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman saying: "The ECHR underpins key international agreements, trade, security and migration and the Good Friday Agreement.
"Anyone who is proposing to renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement is not serious."