Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Andrew Snowden

Monday 15th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)]

11. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of disapplying the Human Rights Act 1998 to immigration matters.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Shabana Mahmood)]

Clearly the balance between the human rights of illegal migrants and the wider public interest is out of kilter. This Government will legislate to limit the application of article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which covers the right to a family life. This will mean that we can deport and remove more illegal migrants, and we will pursue international reform, too. In my previous role, I was already involved in conversations with other member states of the Council of Europe, and this Government will continue that work.

[Mr Snowden]

I welcome the Home Secretary to her position. Every new appointment comes with an opportunity to take a fresh look at these matters. Clearly, since the 1950s, when the refugee convention and the European convention on human rights were first written, the world has changed significantly. Successive Governments have tweaked various bits, working with partners, but does she agree that if we are to stop the small boats that are crossing the channel and illegal migration, the Government will need a more wholesale change?

[Shabana Mahmood]

I hope the hon. Gentleman will take a bit of time to look at the speech I made to the Council of Europe just before the summer recess, in which I made a very similar argument to the one he is making. For those of us who are supporters of the convention and who want to see it stand the test of time, we have to recognise that it is a treaty formed many decades ago in a different reality and we should have a conversation about whether it is still fit for purpose. It is a conversation that others in Europe are having, and we are taking a leading role in those discussions. We will pursue international reform and also reform of our domestic legislation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Andrew Snowden

Tuesday 3rd June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)]

T3. The Secretary of State recently announced that paedophiles will be castrated ahead of early release from prison, which turns out to be nothing more than taking some pills that may—I repeat “may”—reduce their libido. Will the Secretary of State confirm here and now that no paedophile prisoner will be released from prison early until it has been proven that the medication has effectively castrated them?

[Shabana Mahmood]

Chemical suppression is a mechanism used by other jurisdictions around the world, and it has been shown to work. The previous Government sat on a pilot for years on end and did nothing. I have said that I will pull every lever at our disposal to deal with sex offending once and for all.