1 week ago Shabana Mahmood says UK will seek reform of human rights convention

Justice secretary says ‘public confidence in the rule of law is fraying’ but she wants to protect ECHR by changing itEchoes of Brexit as Starmer is pressed to seize initiative on human rightsThe justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said Britain will pursue reform of the European convention on human rights (ECHR), both at home and in Strasbourg, saying “public confidence in the rule of law is fraying”.Mahmood’s warning in her speech at the Council of Europe came as the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said she would undertake an examination of how the courts were applying the right to freedom from degrading treatment. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Artists struggled to survive’: the devastating impact of blacklisting Americans

A new exhibition looks back at the ‘anti-communist’ witch-hunt that affected many Americans, in particular the Hollywood TenThere’s no shortage of comparisons with the second Trump administration to the rise of Nazism in 1930s Germany, but perhaps the more apt comparison is to the Red Scare in postwar America. Blacklisted, a new show at New York Historical, profiles the lives of the so-called Hollywood Ten, who were creatives caught up in the Communist witch-hunt – to disastrous consequences affecting their lives for decades thereafter. It brings to mind suggestive, and uncomfortable, parallels with politicized persecution in the US today.“At this point, TV was just beginning to become influential,” said Anne Lessy, an assistant curator who coordinated the show. “There was a lot of anxiety around these mass entertainments and how much power they had, in part because the second world war effort had been so successful in propaganda. A lot of the blacklisted artists were important in t...

Events

1 week ago Voices: The tide has turned against the European Convention on Human Rights

As two backbench Labour MPs break ranks to voice their support for rewriting the ECHR – following an even more surprising intervention from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey – have both sides of the Commons realised that the only way to remain in the convention is to rewrite it, asks John Rentoul

Politics

3 w. ago Human rights laws need 'tightening,' says Cabinet minister amid Tory move to quit ECHR to cut immigration

Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s comments came as the head of the Council of Europe, whose role includes promoting human rights, argued the ECHR needed to be ‘adapted’ for the modern world

Politics

4 w. ago Voices: Oh dear, m’lud: It’s never a good idea to call people Nazis if they are not Nazis

The attorney general Lord Harmer has compared the rise of Reform to 1930s Germany – and it’s not only a mistake but a sign that Labour may be losing its battle with Nigel Farage, writes John Rentoul

Politics

4 w. ago Attorney General regrets 'clumsy' language on 1930s Germany as 'Nazi' row grows with Tories and Reform on ECHR

Shadow paymaster general Richard Holden said Lord Hermer’s isn’t ‘fit to be our Attorney General’

Politics

4 w. ago Attorney General ‘regrets’ comparing calls to leave ECHR with 1930s Germany

Lord Hermer faced criticism from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for a speech he made on Thursday.

Politics

4 w. ago 'Nazi' row spirals after Attorney General 'compares' Tories and Reform on ECHR to 1930s Germany

Shadow paymaster general Richard Holden said Lord Hermer’s isn’t ‘fit to be our Attorney General’

Politics

4 w. ago Top Labour lawyer compares Tory and Reform's 'dangerous' demands to Nazism

Keir Starmer’s top legal officer, Richard Hermer, has compared demands by the Tories and Reform for Britain to pull itself from international courts to 1930s Nazi Germany

Politics

4 w. ago Attorney General compares Reform and Tories’ policy to actions of Nazi Germany

Lord Hermer remarked claims that international law can be ‘put aside’ were made in the early 1930s in Germany

Events

4 w. ago Attorney General takes aim at Tories and Reform as he compares calls to leave ECHR with Nazi Germany

Lord Hermer used a speech in London to say that claims that international law can be ‘put aside’ were made in the early 1930s in Germany

Politics

4 w. ago Attorney General compares calls to leave international courts with Nazi Germany

Lord Hermer used a speech in London on Thursday to say that claims that international law can be ‘put aside’ were made in the early 1930s in Germany.

Society