Were Britain to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the ECHR other similarly embattled countries would surely follow suit
We have a tendency in Britain to suppose that every problem is unique to us: from energy shortages to sky-high inflation; the delayed consequences of Covid lockdowns to immigration systems falling apart.
This latter issue has dominated our politics this week. Even Keir Starmer concluded that the Government was in such trouble that he could afford to lead on the Channel dinghy shambles at Prime Minister’s Questions, despite Labour’s non-existent credibility on border control.
Yet, as with every other problem listed above, the collapse of asylum and immigration procedures in the face of large-scale movements of people is a common feature across the western world.
In the United States, public anxiety about the integrity of the southern border has become a key vote-shifting political issue despite America priding itself on being a nation ready to give a new home to “huddled masses” from across the planet.