Stop meddling ...because we will not rest until we halt Channel boats
with the UK’s international obligations. He went on: “We want to make sure the European court is always conducting itself in a way that is fair, that is effective, that is transparent.”
The Council of Europe summit began a week of intense international diplomacy, with the PM today heading to the G7 in Japan.
Mr Sunak last night insisted that the UK has a “long track record” of leading reform linked to the European Court of Human Rights, as he pushed for alterations to rules that are holding back his Goverment’s attempts to tackle illegal mass migration.
The Premier has toughened the Illegal Migration Bill that is before peers, to give ministers the power to ignore interim Rule 39 injunctions from the ECHR.
He wants the rule changed so there is greater accountability, following closed-doors rulings that go against UK policy.
Rights
In talks with ECHR boss Siofra O’Leary he called for changes to Rule 39 decisions, and warned illegal migration is not just a UK issue.
A No10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and court president discussed the importance of protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law throughout Europe. The Prime Minister stressed the need to ensure all of Europe is working together to uphold these values and tackle the challenges we face, including illegal migration.”
Tackling the small boats that are crossing the Channel to the UK is one of Mr Sunak’s top five priorities – but the total of illegal migrants arriving this year is expected to top 50,000. Meanwhile net migration is tipped to near one million. Downing Street aides would not say when either figure will fall, or by how much.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s bill to stop illegal migration includes powers to send migrants who arrive without permission back home or to a third country, such as Rwanda.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted yesterday high migration levels have put pressure on housing and public services.
He said Ms Braverman’s reforms, which would include ignoring some Strasbourg rulings, are the “right” approach. The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary told the National Conservatism Conference in London: “Britain has always been a country that has benefited from people coming here fleeing persecution, but the numbers recently
have been at a level where there’s an inevitable pressure on housing and on public services. You cannot ignore the pressure on housing that comes from migration as well and that is why I think the Prime Minister is absolutely right and Suella is right.
“It is a critical point of Brexit that we are able to say this is the level of migration for our country. This is the level we set. These are the points that we’re looking for for jobs and skills. Beyond that there is a limit.”
Agenda
Mr Sunak raised the need for reform of Rule 39 and wider co-operation on tackling mass illegal migration on Europe’s borders in a series of one-to-one talks on the sidelines of the Iceland summit, including with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte.
But Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir, the host nation’s minister for foreign affairs, insisted that the topics would not be top of the agenda at the gathering.
She continued: “The biggest focus is of course Ukraine, and then other issues such as AI and environment and other things. So this summit doesn’t have a big focus on migration in general.
“But I agree that that is an issue for Europe. And of course, that system has to develop with the challenges that we face.”
She said there would not be a “real concrete outcome” on reforming Rule 39.
Mr Sunak told the summit that European communities and the world’s most vulnerable people were “paying the price” for the failure to prevent unlawful migration.
The Prime Minister told the gathering that the “moral case” for action on illegal migration was “clear”, adding: “We can’t just sit back and watch as criminal gangs profiteer on people’s misery.
“Illegal migration exploits the most vulnerable. It risks crowding out those with a genuine case for asylum.
“And it strains the trust that our citizens have not just in our domestic borders, but in the international system.”
He urged nations to do “more to co-operate across borders” to end illegal migration and stop the boats. The gathering of heads of government had been arranged following Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Leaders from the 46 nations discussed how international allies can hold Moscow to account for its breaches of international law. No 10 aides said that Mr Sunak signed up the UK to the Register of Damages to ensure that the people of Ukraine will be compensated for the losses they suffered as a result of Putin’s aggression.
The register is a mechanism that will help record and document evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury as a result of the Kremlin’s attack against Ukraine.
In talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Sunak agreed to strengthen co-operation between the EU and UK, with a deal on how British agencies and Frontex – the European Border and Coast Guard Agency – can work together on critical operations in the Channel.