UK rights chief warns against demonizing migrants as hate crimes spike

MANCHESTER, England (CN) — Britain’s new equalities watchdog chair, Mary-Ann Stephenson, has warned that demonizing migrants and quitting the European Convention on Human Rights could worsen racial tensions.

Her remarks Sunday came as the government reviews human rights law to speed up deportations.

Stephenson, who became chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission at the beginning of December, said the tone of political debate around migration and human rights risked harming not only migrants but ethnic minority British citizens.

“I think it’s really important that we have honesty in the way that we talk about human rights, and that we also have a recognition that the demonization of migrants, creating this idea that migration causes huge risks for the country, can make the lives not just of migrants to the U.K., but of ethnic minority U.K. citizens, very, very difficult,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson also said it would be a “mistake” for the U.K. to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, an international treaty that underpins rights protections across Europe.

Both the Conservative Party and Reform UK, an anti-immigrant populist party, have pledged to withdraw from the convention.

Responding to Stephenson’s comments, Chris Philp of the Conservative Party accused her of smearing critics of immigration policy.

“These comments by the new Labour-appointed human rights chief are a disgrace,” he said, accusing the government of trying to “paint those opposed to mass immigration and illegal immigration as racist.”

Public discourse clouded by misinformation

The debate has intensified as the Labour government reviews human rights law with the aim of making it easier to deport people.

Proposed changes include how courts apply Article 3 of the convention, which bans torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and Article 8, which protects the right to family life.

Stephenson said the convention formed part of a framework that provided rights most people would regard as fundamental, adding that public discussion of it was often misleading and dangerous.

Concerns about misinformation were echoed in a study published this year by the University of Oxford.

The report found that about 75% of U.K. media coverage referencing the convention in the first half of 2025 focused on immigration and deportation, often misreporting tribunal cases and overstating the convention’s role.

“Our findings show that much of the public discussion about the ECHR and immigration is not grounded in accurate reporting,” Professor Alice Donald of Middlesex University London, one of the report’s authors, said. “For a debate of such importance, it is essential that arguments are based on evidence and a correct understanding of the law.”

Hate crime and far-right politics

The equalities chief’s warnings come as official figures show a rise in racially based hate crime.

Government statistics recorded a 6% increase in race hate crimes and a 3% increase in religious hate crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025.

Hate crimes targeting Muslims rose 19%, with a spike following the stabbing deaths of three young girls in Southport and subsequent protests outside asylum hotels that turned violent in several towns.

The warnings also land amid the growth of right-wing populism in Britain.

Reform UK has polled strongly throughout the year, far surpassing Labour and the Conservatives.

The leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, has also spoken at campaign rallies for U.S. President Donald Trump and made several trips to Washington.

Speaking at a political event in Washington in September 2025, Farage said: “I have drawn amazing inspiration from the MAGA movement in this country,” adding, “I’m the only figure from the other side of the Parliament that has consistently stood behind Trump, and stood behind the MAGA movement.”

Meanwhile, the anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson — whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — drew around 100,000 people to a rally in London on Sept. 13.

Police counted dozens of injuries and arrests in what turned out to be one of Britain’s largest far-right rallies in recent history.

Yaxley-Lennon has received public backing from Elon Musk, who addressed supporters: “Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die.”

There is no set timeline for the government’s review of human rights law.

Any changes would likely face legal challenges in domestic courts and scrutiny from the Council of Europe, which oversees the convention and is separately exploring reforms to address migration-related pressures, with a declaration expected in 2026.

Courthouse News reporter James Francis Whitehead is based in England.

Follow @jayfranklinlive