Good morning. Today’s newsletter was meant to be about the knots Labour has been tying itself in over whether to support the rail strikes, but then the Conservatives did something even more on-brand. A week after the European court of human rights (ECHR) drew an outcry from the right by blocking the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, Dominic Raab has announced plans to create a new bill of rights that will say the UK can ignore those rulings in the future.
New legislation will be introduced to parliament today that effectively abolishes the Human Rights Act (which institutes the ECHR’s authority in the UK). It’s been in the works a long time – but, Haroon Siddique reports this morning, a senior government source acknowledges that the Rwanda story “reinforced and strengthened the case for what we’re doing”.
But this is more than an example of government by press release: the plans look like they extend rights for the media, and reduce them for just about everybody else. The president of the Law Society says that the legislation will “create an acceptable class of human rights abuses in the United Kingdom”. After the headlines, today’s newsletter will explain how.
Five big stories
Strikes | The first day of the biggest rail strikes in decades gave much of Great Britain a reminder of lockdown as millions avoided public transport, worked from home or took to their cars. National rail services will start later in the day and with reduced schedules on Wednesday.
Labour | Keir Starmer is expected to discipline at least five Labour frontbenchers who defied his orders and appeared on RMT picket lines to show solidarity with striking rail workers.
Crime | A former soldier who murdered his neighbours with a commando dagger after a dispute over parking has been told he will serve at least 38 years in prison before being considered for parole.
Ukraine | The military situation for Ukraine’s defenders in the eastern Donbas is “extremely difficult”, the governor of the Luhansk region has said, as Russian attacks intensified in an effort to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
Cost of living | Britain’s cost of living crisis is being made worse by Brexit dragging down the country’s growth potential and costing workers hundreds of pounds a year in lost pay, new research claims.
In depth: Rights and wrongs
When Dominic Raab first set out his plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a British bill of rights back in March, the focus of his interview with the Daily Mail was not the massive changes that might flow from the bill, but the damage being wrought to the media by cancel culture and “wokery”.
He’s likely to strike a different tone today – but other than a new front in the war on snowflakes, we won’t know exactly what will feature in the legislation until it is presented to MPs. But there’s a lot we can say based on the earlier consultation and the government’s briefing so far:
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Why is it being introduced?
The Conservative party has had designs on a new British bill of rights for years. (Haroon Siddique’s explainer sets out some of this history.) But as recently as Boris Johnson’s 2019 manifesto, the government’s commitment was no firmer than a promise to “update the human rights act”. Then Raab took charge at the Ministry of Justice.
Supporters of the change view the European court of human rights (which interprets the convention for member states including the UK, and has nothing to do with the EU) as an unaccountable blight on British sovereignty and “common sense”. It may also not be a coincidence that the plans have finally blossomed at a time when the government seems highly focused on ways to show independence from Europe, and draw clear dividing lines with Labour.
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What rights does it add?
If we exclude the possibility that the government is planning to give liberals a nice surprise with a bunch of new safeguards it has not trailed ahead of time, the answers are: the right to a jury trial; greater protection for the press against courts requiring the disclosure of sources; and, in general, a “greater weight in law” for the freedom of speech above the right to privacy. (The last of these appears to have been a response to a court defeat for the Mail on Sunday in a privacy case brought by the Duchess of Sussex. “Raab’s right on rights,” the Daily Mail says today.)
None of this required a new bill of rights to be put in place. “A lot of it seems to be about implying that the Human Rights Act is blocking things which it isn’t,” said Ellie Cumbo, head of public law at the Law Society.
“There is absolutely no need to repeal the Human Rights Act to do those things,” said Martha Spurrier, director of the civil rights advocacy group Liberty. “The right to jury trial? There already is one. But if you want to enshrine it, sure, go ahead, do a criminal justice bill.”
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What rights does it limit or take away?
This list is a bit more extensive. Here are some of the most serious changes set out so far:
A harder test to claim the right to family life to avoid deportation. (Spurrier points out that whereas the government has claimed 70% of successful challenges to criminal deportation cases rely on this provision, that appears to be a typo: the true figure is 7.8%.)
Limits on cases where public bodies have a “positive obligation” to protect individuals’ rights. The example cited by the MOJ is “police forces having to notify gang members of threats towards them from other gangs”. Other cases relying on the rule that are significantly less convenient include those which allowed the Hillsborough families and the victims of John Worboys to find a measure of justice.
New rules instructing courts to consider a claimant’s past record before awarding them damages for human rights breaches – meaning that somebody with a chequered history could face significantly greater risk of harm from the authorities.
A new “permission stage” requiring claimants to show they have “suffered a significant disadvantage” to bring a case. “But it’s already the case that the courts strike out anything that’s trivial,” said Cumbo. “So it’s not a permission stage, it’s a new blocking stage, really. It basically says that it doesn’t matter if the claim is valid, or you have them bang to rights – the state can breach human rights law unless it’s really, really bad.”
And several other things besides, but this is meant to be a briefing, not a longing. “It’s basically as bad as we feared,” said Spurrier. “It’s been sold with this disingenuous claim that it’s about parliamentary sovereignty, but the truth is it’s about sidelining judicial and parliamentary scrutiny in favour of the executive being allowed to do what they want.”
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How does it change the UK’s relationship with the European court?
For all the recent tub-thumping about supposed ECHR overreach on the Rwanda flight, the language being used around how the new legislation will interact with the UK’s international obligations is relatively constrained. The bill will simply “make clear” that UK courts can reject ECHR rulings – and the promised changes will be achieved while “retaining the UK’s fundamental commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights”.
That may be intended to soften the bill’s landing today: “It sounds like some of it may have been watered down because it wasn’t practical,” said Cumbo.
But Spurrier sets out a more troubling long-term prognosis, where the new bill sets up inevitable conflicts that cannot permanently be ignored.
“If you adopt legislation that is fundamentally weaker than what’s in the European convention, you’re in breach of your obligations,” she said. “There’s no immediate effect, but over time, as it happens repeatedly, you get sanctioned by the court. And the more it happens, the less diplomatic those sanctions become, and then you reach an impossible position.”
Could that ultimately lead to the UK joining Russia in expulsion? “I think that’s less likely than that they’re setting up this fight as a way to gain traction for the argument for leaving without saying it explicitly.”
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What happens next?
With limited scope for pre-legislative scrutiny, the government’s first challenge is to get the legislation through the House of Commons. While the vigour of Labour’s opposition might be in doubt given recent evidence of timidity over “dividing line” issues, the party’s unified votes against plus those of some sceptical Tory backbenchers are enough to make the outcome not a foregone conclusion.
If it does pass, there is likely to be resistance in the House of Lords. Will that be enough to stop Raab’s plans? That’s doubtful – but only a vociferous, committed opposition will stand a chance.
What else we’ve been reading
Whether you’re going to Glastonbury or watching it on TV, smug in the thought of the public transport nightmare you avoided, consult Ben Beaumont-Thomas’ guide to the unmissable acts and get yourself in the mood. Archie
Heather Stewart’s analysis of Keir Starmer’s stance on his frontbenchers joining picket lines is not comfortable reading for the Labour leader. Three MPs from different wings of the party describe the ban as “imbecilic”, “pointless” and “dumb”. Archie
In this remarkable long read, based on more than 60 interviews, Isobel Thompson writes about how, over the course of a decade, Nottingham prison descended into crisis. Nimo
Stuart Jeffries had the enviable job of interviewing the UK’s longest-serving soap stars, who have survived minibus crashes, fraud sentences, cancer, a stroke, feuds, bereavements, child kidnapping … Archie
Even though yoga originates from India and has been practised by people around the world for millennia, in 21st-century Britain it is an industry dominated by white people. David Batty talks to the women of colour who are fighting to make yoga inclusive. Nimo
Sport
Football | Fifa has said it is reviewing its gender eligibility regulations after swimming governing body Fina voted to block transgender women from women’s competitions if they have experienced any part of male puberty.
Cricket | Ben Stokes must prove his fitness before the third Test against New Zealand, which starts on Thursday, after the England captain missed the first day of training at Headingley through illness.
Tennis | Serena Williams made her long-awaited return to competitive tennis with a doubles victory in Eastbourne. She has not competed for 51 weeks after a hamstring injury at last year’s Wimbledon.
The front pages
“Tory bill accused of ‘fatally weakening human rights” – the Guardian’s lead story in print today. The Financial Times has “Rail union resists as bosses offer 3% pay rise for 2,000 job cuts” while the i says “UK’s new strike breaking laws ‘won’t fix crisis’”. “Class war” says the Sun as “teachers threaten to strike too”. The Mirror presents it as a “Cost of living strike” and says it’s time to “Level up”, pointing out that “Network Rail chief Andrew Haines earns 20 TIMES the wage of train guard Dave King”. The Express has a wide shot of an empty platform and asks “Hatred of Boris … is this what it’s all about?” in reference to a “class war rant” by “union boss Mick Lynch”. The Times says the prime minister is “ready for strike stalemate to last months”. “Labour isn’t working” says the Daily Mail after some of its MPs joined picket lines. A solitary train on the tracks is across the Metro’s front which bears the headline “Ghost train Britain” but also “Gold age pensions”. The latter is explained further by the Telegraph: “Double-digit rise for state pension and benefits”.
Today in Focus
A tale of two byelections
After the resignations in disgrace of two Tory MPs, the Lib Dems and Labour are hoping to snatch victories in Thursday’s byelections. Are Boris Johnson’s voters ready to desert him?
Cartoon of the day | Martin Rowson
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Japan has long had declining birth rates and a generation of people who seem to be less interested in long-term relationships. To make dating more fun, a matchmaking initiative in Miyazaki is encouraging people to write letters instead of swiping right on a dating app. Profile photos are forbidden, and applicants are paired up based on indicators of compatibility. In two years, the initiative has led to hundreds of letters being sent, 32 dates and 17 relationships.
Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday
Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
