6 h. ago Angela Rayner is warned her plan to hand trade unions more power 'violates human rights'

As part of her reforms to employment rights, the party's deputy leader (pictured) is scrapping a Tory-era requirement for union members to opt in if they want to contribute towards political funds.

Events

9 h. ago Claims NI peace deal stops UK leaving ECHR ‘entirely groundless’ – think tank

The Policy Exchange claims public debate on human rights law reform had been ‘distorted’.

Economics

14 h. ago The Guardian view on the killing of Gaza’s journalists: Israel wants to stop the world from seeing what it’s doing | Editorial

This is the most lethal war for the media in recent times. A generation of journalists is being wiped outDay by day, the death toll rises, the war crimes mount, and the outrage grows. Last Wednesday, the pope demanded that Israel stop its “collective punishment” of Gaza’s population. A day later, António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, warned that “the levels of death and destruction are without parallel in recent times”. More than 500 UN staff have pressed the human rights chief, Volker Türk, to call it genocide. Half of registered voters in the US have already concluded that that is what Israel is doing in Gaza.The agony is deepening. On Friday, the Israeli military declared famine-hit Gaza City to be a combat zone, intensifying its assault and ending “tactical pauses” that allowed limited – if utterly inadequate – food delivery. Many inhabitants are physically incapable of fleeing again, and fear that they would be no s...

Events

15 h. ago Yvette Cooper ordered to end detention of asylum seeker with schizophrenia

Home secretary could face legal action over decision to keep 25-year-old man from Nigeria in prisonYvette Cooper could face legal action over the decision to keep an asylum seeker with schizophrenia in prison.The high court has ordered the home secretary to release the 25-year-old man by 8 September, and the Home Office may have to pay him damages for breaching his human rights. Continue reading...

Events

25 h. ago How do you legally claim asylum in the UK? For most refugees, it's impossible

Asylum is a legal right, a human right, but without safe routes it is a hollow promise, writes Robina Qureshi. Ukrainians were welcomed; Palestinians — like so many others — are caught in a bureaucratic siege of red tape and bombardment.

Events

31 h. ago DANIEL HANNAN: We don't need the European human rights brigade telling our tolerant and liberal nation how to deal with the migrant crisis

Britain's departure from the European Convention on Human Rights is starting to feel inevitable, triggered by immigration policy failures. But remember, a human rights lawyer is in No 10...

Events

34 h. ago The moment I knew: stuck in Chile in the early days of Covid, he brought me out of my anxiety loop

When Sashi Perera and her boyfriend Charlie were marooned in a hotel room in Punta Arenas, she realised they balanced each other out perfectlyFind more stories from The moment I knew seriesIn May 2018, I was scrolling through prospective dates on Bumble when I saw Charlie’s profile. I could tell we had a lot of immediate connections. He had worked for human rights organisations, travelled a lot and even had interesting profile pictures. I swiped right.Later that day, we met at a small bar close to my work in Melbourne for a drink. Even though it was a good first date, I decided I didn’t have the energy for more dates straight away and cancelled our second one. I think he thought I was a bit of a time waster. Continue reading...

Politics

54 h. ago Being told the human rights of asylum seekers trump those of residents will haunt Labour: SIR MICHAEL ELLIS

The Home Secretary may today be celebrating after the Court of Appeal ruling 140 male asylum seekers can remain at the Epping hotel at the centre of anti-immigrant protests (pictured).

Politics

65 h. ago UN human rights staff urge leadership to declare Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide

Internal letter also calls on UN member states to suspend arms sales, saying ‘criticising Israel is not enough’Middle East crisis – live updatesHundreds of employees of the United Nations’ leading human rights agency have backed an internal letter telling its leadership to declare Israel’s offensive in Gaza a genocide and to call on UN member states to suspend arms sales to Israel.The 1,100-word letter, signed by about a quarter of the 2,000 staff of the Geneva- and New York-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the Israeli offensive in Gaza meets the legal threshold of genocide and that this means “arms sales, transfers and related logistical or financial support to Israeli authorities” constitutes a clear breach of international law by all those involved. Continue reading...

Politics

66 h. ago Voices: Getting rid of the ECHR won’t stop a single boat of migrants

As New Labour grandees unite with Red Wall Labour MPs to call for the European Court of Human Rights to be reformed – legislation that Nigel Farage wants to scrap – Sean O’Grady says the mainstreaming of the view that it is no longer workable or needed is deeply dishonest

Events

67 h. ago US soldiers could be liable for war crimes in Gaza. Will they be prosecuted?

Human Rights Watch says US military personnel could face criminal prosecution for assisting Israel’s war in GazaHuman rights groups and activists who protest against continued US support for Israel have focused primarily on the flow of US weapons, warning that continuing to send weapons to a state which has been documented using them in probable war crimes makes the US complicit.However, this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted another facet of US military support for Israel: military cooperation and intelligence sharing. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Amal and George Clooney triumphant return to Venice Film Festival after health blow

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney stunned in a bold fuchsia gown in Italy as she joined husband George on the red carpet for his new film

Culture

3 d. ago Assisted dying legislation discriminates against disabled people, warns top KC

Tom Cross KC said it breaches the European Convention on Human Rights

Events

4 d. ago The unlikely alliance pressing Trump to regulate Pfas on US farms: ‘This is a basic human right’

A group of farmers, bikers, truckers and scientists from the political left and right are working to bring attention to the health risks of using toxic sludge as fertilizerAn unlikely alliance of farmers, bikers, truckers, a detective and scientists from across the political spectrum are working to pressure the Trump administration and Republican leadership to rein in the use of toxic sewage sludge as fertilizer on the nation’s farmland.Sludge often teems with Pfas, or “forever chemicals”, which present a health risk to farmers and the public, and have destroyed farms and contaminated water across the country. The issue has touched the groups’ lives in different ways, highlighting its broad risks to health. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Top minister savages Nigel Farage's 'empty promises' over hard line migration plan

In a press conference on Tuesday, Nigel Farage vowed to tear up human rights laws and send people to countries where they could be at risk of imprisonment, torture or death

Politics

4 d. ago Tory chair says party would consider deal with Taliban to return Afghan migrants – UK politics live

Kevin Hollinrake says party would ‘potentially’ set up returns agreement with country as he says deportation plan is ‘far more comprehensive’ than Reform’sNigel Farage has been accused of “ugly” and “destructive” rhetoric after announcing plans to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and pledging to pay despotic regimes such as the Taliban to take them back.Unveiling Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” at a combative press conference in Oxford, Farage said he would rip up the UK’s postwar human rights commitments, contained in a range of international conventions, to deport “absolutely anyone” – including women and children – arriving by small boat.We really are through the looking-glass now. Nigel Farage pretending to be patriotic while pledging to rip up Britain’s proud record of leading the world on human rights.As we’ve seen across history, his populist playbook is ugly, powerful and incredibly destructive. We know where it will lead if we don’t stop it.If today ...

Society

5 d. ago There’s an obvious way to challenge Nigel Farage. But Keir Starmer won’t do it | Rafael Behr

Labour’s reluctance to name Brexit as the cause of so many problems hasn’t stopped Reform’s rise. It’s time to try the truthSo begins another chapter in the liberation struggle. Released from bondage to the EU, Britain finds itself subjugated to a more insidious foe. The border that should have been sealed is wide open. The foreign hordes are still coming, but their passage is no longer directed by bureaucrats from Brussels. This time, national emancipation depends on breaking the tyranny of human rights lawyers.That is the plot to Nigel Farage’s Brexit sequel, previewed on Tuesday in an airport hangar in Oxfordshire. The Reform UK leader laid out plans for “mass deportation” of migrants – all who arrive without permission, plus those who are here already and came by illicit channels.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Farage attacked for ‘ugly’ rhetoric of plan for mass deportation of asylum seekers

Reform UK leader says he will rip up UK’s human rights commitments and pay despotic regimes to take people backNigel Farage has been accused of “ugly” and “destructive” rhetoric after announcing plans to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, and pledging to pay despotic regimes such as the Taliban to take them back.Unveiling Reform UK’s “Operation Restoring Justice” at a combative press conference in Oxford, Farage said he would rip up the UK’s postwar human rights commitments, contained in a range of international conventions, to deport “absolutely anyone” – including women and children – arriving by small boat. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Reform UK unveils plans to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants

Nigel Farage vows to strip away barriers to removals, including the European Convention on Human Rights

Events

5 d. ago ‘There needs to be justice,’ UN tells Israel after Gaza hospital bombing

Human rights office demands that Israeli investigation into ‘double tap’ attack that killed 20 people yields resultsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe UN has demanded that Israel’s investigations into unlawful killings in Gaza, including its “double tap” bombing of Nasser hospital which killed 20 people, among them five journalists, yield results and ensure accountability.“There needs to be justice,” Thameen Al-Kheetan, the spokesperson for the UN’s human rights office, told reporters on Tuesday in Geneva. He added that the number of journalists killed in Gaza raised many questions about the targeting of media workers. Continue reading...

Politics