Justice secretary urges overhaul of European convention on human rights
Good morning. Keir Starmer is on his way back from the G7 in Canada, and he won’t be in the Commons for PMQs, where Angela Rayner will be taking the questions instead. With the government also publishing its bill to slash sickness and disability benefits, Starmer may feel its a good day not to be around. As Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot report, ministers are expecting a big revolt when MPs debate the legislation, probably in early July.
There will be no statement on the bill in the Commons, but we are getting one on HS2.
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, is also floating reform plans in another area. She is giving a speech in Strasbourg where she will argue that the way the European convention on human rights – the international human rights law which is embedded in UK statute in the Human Rights Act and which has angered ministers of all parties because of the way it restricts the deportation of refused asylum seekers – must evolve. According to a preview by Sam Blewett for Politico, she will say:
If a foreign national commits a serious crime, they should expect to be removed from the country …
