Labour MPs have turned on Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), saying quitting the group should be “on the table””
It comes as tensions are rising within the party ranks, with backbenchers nervy about this week’s local elections.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is predicted to win between 400 and 450 council seats this week, while Labour is only expected to win around 280, representing little change from its abysmal performance in 2021.
One MP told The Telegraph Reform was “riding the crest of a wave”, adding: “In my constituency, the number one issue is tackling immigration.
“People need to see the boats being halted and the numbers coming down, and the whole system functioning much more effectively.
Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said: “If the results are as bad as predicted on Thursday, the Labour Party mustn’t come out and say it’s a question of just communicating our policies better.
“Most of all, we need to take control of the borders. If that means renegotiating or changing our international obligations, then we need to do that. But we cannot continue to have open borders because of laws passed in the early 1950s.”
When asked if leaving the ECHR should be an option, Stringer said: “Certainly. Either modifying or leaving it.”
Sir Stephen Houghton, who runs Barnsley borough council, also criticised the Prime Minister, pointing at the only Labour-held council up for election, Doncaster.
“Reform comes along and says, ‘well, the problem is migration’, where the problem clearly isn’t migration,” he told The Telegraph.
“Investment is needed in those places to bring them up to an economic standard and secondly, in the short term, we need to do things to help them with the cost of living, because these are deprived communities on low incomes and even if they are working, life is a struggle.
“The Government’s capital investment strategy cannot just focus on big cities.”
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Farage pledges ‘Reform-quake’ ahead of local elections
Nigel Farage has pledged to cause a “Reform-quake” ahead of this week’s local elections, as he slammed Labour’s landslide victory last year as a “loveless victory.”
He said: “A Reform-quake? That’s what they’re calling it. I don’t know. What I do know is the advances we’ve made since the general election have been extraordinary.
“The Labour victory last summer was a loveless victory. I think you’re probably going to see our strongest results in areas where Labour won a lot of seats in the general election.
“I’m talking about the Derbyshires, the Nottinghamshires and in particular about County Durham, where we’re doing very, very well indeed. And, who knows? There’s also a by-election taking place in Labour’s 16th safest seat of Runcorn and Helsby. So, yeah, I think Labour are really scared.”
