WATCH: ‘We can’t control our borders under ECHR’ Legal expert urges UK to walk away as migrant crisis spikes

GB News

Human rights lawyer David Haye has called for Britain to "reform or leave" the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that the country "cannot regain control of its borders" while remaining under current arrangements.The comments come as Channel crossings reached record levels over the weekend, with 1,194 migrants arriving in 18 small boats on Saturday according to Home Office data. This marked the highest number of migrants recorded on a single day so far in 2025.Speaking to GB News, the human rights lawyer explained: "The problem you've got is that, when you look at it, every single country that's in the ECHR, you would imagine, would want control of their borders and be able to deport foreign criminals."That’s something which the nine that signed that letter, and ourselves, are actually experiencing now we're experiencing those problems.READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Transcript

00:00David, welcome to the show. A pleasure to have your company. What a surprise.

00:03Our chief lawmaker says we should reform from within, but then doesn't sign this letter

00:10signed by nine other nations. And David, I know you're an expert on the forlorn prospect

00:16of trying to reform the ECHR from within. Tell us why you think that kind of approach

00:23is a wasted endeavour. Good afternoon, Martin. Well, I think, you know, we've just heard the

00:28Prime Minister's press conference where he was saying he was working with his partners,

00:32presumably meaning European ones. Well, that's nine that he wasn't working with because they're

00:35not part of that letter. And it seems that the nine, for instance, Denmark, Italy, you know,

00:41Belgium even wrote, obviously, saying that we need to have a grown-up conversation about reform

00:47of the ECHR. But as we know, we were not part of that. And we also know that they've said that

00:54they will not, Labour will not leave the ECHR. So we've got a bit of a problem.

01:01And the fact of the matter is, if you try and reform from within, a bit like the European Union,

01:06then every single member state has to agree to any form of change. And with the ECHR,

01:12the notion that we could say, hey, I'll tell you what, lads, we'd like to modify the ECHR. We don't

01:17want to leave it, but we'd like to modify it to make Britain a special case. That's for the birds.

01:22I think, Martin, you've got a point there. I think the problem that you've got is that

01:27when you look at it, every single country that's in the ECHR, you would imagine would want control

01:33of their borders, would be able to deport foreign criminals. That's something which the nine that

01:38signed that letter and ourselves are actually experiencing now. We're experiencing those

01:43problems. But perhaps the fact that only nine of the whole of the members of the ECHR, which I think

01:48is about 46, to sign that shows you why haven't they signed that? Why are not other people wanting

01:54to change that? And I hate to say this, but the reality is, unless we reform that or leave,

01:59we are not going to be able to get control of our borders. And we'll have human rights

02:03used against us by the people, the very bad people in this world who are effectively using

02:08our good ethics and human rights against ourselves. And that's one of the big problems that you're

02:14seeing here. Can I get your reaction to what happened at the tail end of last week,

02:19where it was announced by the Lord, the learned Lord, that it was akin to Nazi Germany to want to

02:28leave the ECHR? I mean, that was, you know, I mean, I know Lord Herman, he worked to me on a case,

02:35you know, he is an intelligent person. But what that shows, that I found frightening for several

02:40reasons, but particularly, this is the government's chief legal advisor, making such a schoolboy error

02:46and showing lack of judgment. That is very worrying in someone in that position, that's got a very,

02:52very, very important position, perhaps the most important lawyer in the country, making such a gaffe.

02:57It's very disappointing. And I think a little bit terrifying as well, if this is the person in

03:02charge of all the very substantial legal problems, for instance, the ECHR and reform that we face over

03:09the coming years, you know, a lot more than just a foolish mistake, I think. Yeah, I think you're

03:15right.

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