Phil Armitage
@philiparmitage.bsky.social
Public and Administrative Lawyer, JUSTICE. https://justice.org.uk/person/phil-armitage/ www.linkedin.com/in/philip-armitage-158373a7
Definitely a must-read on yesterday's Home Office announcements.
New post
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
publiclawforeveryone.com/2025/11/17/t...
The legal and constitutional implications of the asylum white paper: Some initial thoughts
Proposals for radical reform of the UK’s asylum system raise a number of legal and constitutional issues, with respect both to the European Convention on Human Rights and the domestic principle of …
publiclawforeveryone.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Definitely a must-read on yesterday's Home Office announcements.
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Reviewing refugee status every 30 months will add avoidable distress & pile pressure on the appeal system. Courts have held fast-track appeals to be systemically unfair before.
These plans risk hindering integration & increasing bureaucracy instead of fixing problems (5/5)
These plans risk hindering integration & increasing bureaucracy instead of fixing problems (5/5)
November 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reviewing refugee status every 30 months will add avoidable distress & pile pressure on the appeal system. Courts have held fast-track appeals to be systemically unfair before.
These plans risk hindering integration & increasing bureaucracy instead of fixing problems (5/5)
These plans risk hindering integration & increasing bureaucracy instead of fixing problems (5/5)
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Politicians and the press must also be honest: the ECHR’s impact on immigration is often overstated — more lottery millionaires are created each year than foreign national offenders who win appeals on human-rights grounds alone, for example (4/5)
November 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Politicians and the press must also be honest: the ECHR’s impact on immigration is often overstated — more lottery millionaires are created each year than foreign national offenders who win appeals on human-rights grounds alone, for example (4/5)
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Any domestic or international reform must be careful not to destabilise the ECHR system of rights. The Government already has legal flexibility to balance Article 8 (family life) with other concerns, including for foreign national offenders (3/5)
November 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Any domestic or international reform must be careful not to destabilise the ECHR system of rights. The Government already has legal flexibility to balance Article 8 (family life) with other concerns, including for foreign national offenders (3/5)
Reposted by Phil Armitage
We can & must find solutions to these challenges while upholding the rights & dignity of all, including asylum-seekers & refugees
The govt is right to reaffirm commitment to the ECHR & HRA. These rights protect ordinary people daily, from rape survivors to care home residents (2/5)
The govt is right to reaffirm commitment to the ECHR & HRA. These rights protect ordinary people daily, from rape survivors to care home residents (2/5)
November 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
We can & must find solutions to these challenges while upholding the rights & dignity of all, including asylum-seekers & refugees
The govt is right to reaffirm commitment to the ECHR & HRA. These rights protect ordinary people daily, from rape survivors to care home residents (2/5)
The govt is right to reaffirm commitment to the ECHR & HRA. These rights protect ordinary people daily, from rape survivors to care home residents (2/5)
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Today's asylum proposals risk worsening problems & causing deep worry for people trying to build safe, stable lives with their families.
Current serious problems such as huge backlogs & hotel use stem from Home Office policies not our human rights laws (1/5)
Current serious problems such as huge backlogs & hotel use stem from Home Office policies not our human rights laws (1/5)
November 17, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Today's asylum proposals risk worsening problems & causing deep worry for people trying to build safe, stable lives with their families.
Current serious problems such as huge backlogs & hotel use stem from Home Office policies not our human rights laws (1/5)
Current serious problems such as huge backlogs & hotel use stem from Home Office policies not our human rights laws (1/5)
Reposted by Phil Armitage
The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world"
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
November 17, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The Home Secretary says "we have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world"
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
That is a factually untrue claim: the Home Office shows that the UK is fifth, getting 1/10 claims, while Germany gets 1/5 claims
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Our @refugeecouncil.bsky.social initial analysis estimates that in the first decade 1.4m people would need to have their status reviewed at a cost of £872m (based recent asylum grants, but limited by the lack of Home Office appeal outcomes data).
November 17, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Our @refugeecouncil.bsky.social initial analysis estimates that in the first decade 1.4m people would need to have their status reviewed at a cost of £872m (based recent asylum grants, but limited by the lack of Home Office appeal outcomes data).
Reposted by Phil Armitage
The Government inherited an asylum system in meltdown, and had managed to at least get cases being processed again while ending the madness of the Rwanda plan. But the policies being announced today undermine all of that, making it harder for refugees to integrate and contribute to their communities
November 17, 2025 at 12:40 PM
The Government inherited an asylum system in meltdown, and had managed to at least get cases being processed again while ending the madness of the Rwanda plan. But the policies being announced today undermine all of that, making it harder for refugees to integrate and contribute to their communities
Reposted by Phil Armitage
JUSTICE and 40+ other experts today urge the govt to remove the power to imprison people for their own protection while they await trial.
Prisons are not places of care, and this practice worsens issues such as homeless, addiction & mental health crises.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Prisons are not places of care, and this practice worsens issues such as homeless, addiction & mental health crises.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Lammy urged to end ‘scandal’ of people imprisoned for own protection
Exclusive: Removing courts’ power would help vulnerable adults and children and ‘free up jail spaces’, experts say, in wake of recent manhunts to find missing prisoners released by mistake
www.independent.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM
JUSTICE and 40+ other experts today urge the govt to remove the power to imprison people for their own protection while they await trial.
Prisons are not places of care, and this practice worsens issues such as homeless, addiction & mental health crises.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Prisons are not places of care, and this practice worsens issues such as homeless, addiction & mental health crises.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Phil Armitage
JUSTICE is hiring!
We’re recruiting for two paid internships, offering hands-on experience working alongside our policy team on important law reform, research and drafting work.
📅 3 months (full-time or part-time)
📍 UK wide
Read more & apply: bit.ly/3JCjElq
We’re recruiting for two paid internships, offering hands-on experience working alongside our policy team on important law reform, research and drafting work.
📅 3 months (full-time or part-time)
📍 UK wide
Read more & apply: bit.ly/3JCjElq
Careers | JUSTICE | Legal Charity Jobs
Join our mission to reform the legal system. Explore current job openings and career opportunities at JUSTICE.
bit.ly
November 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
JUSTICE is hiring!
We’re recruiting for two paid internships, offering hands-on experience working alongside our policy team on important law reform, research and drafting work.
📅 3 months (full-time or part-time)
📍 UK wide
Read more & apply: bit.ly/3JCjElq
We’re recruiting for two paid internships, offering hands-on experience working alongside our policy team on important law reform, research and drafting work.
📅 3 months (full-time or part-time)
📍 UK wide
Read more & apply: bit.ly/3JCjElq
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Leaving the ECHR won't stop people risking their lives through Channel crossings but it WOULD harm the rights of both migrants in the UK & our wider communities.
On 75th Anniversary of ECHR, we call on politicians to stop scapegoating & defend human rights.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
On 75th Anniversary of ECHR, we call on politicians to stop scapegoating & defend human rights.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Leaving the ECHR won’t stop the boats, 300 organisations warn in rallying cry
Prime minister Keir Starmer urged to make positive case for ECHR after Kemi Badenoch pledged a Tory government would leave the treaty
www.independent.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Leaving the ECHR won't stop people risking their lives through Channel crossings but it WOULD harm the rights of both migrants in the UK & our wider communities.
On 75th Anniversary of ECHR, we call on politicians to stop scapegoating & defend human rights.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
On 75th Anniversary of ECHR, we call on politicians to stop scapegoating & defend human rights.
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Reposted by Phil Armitage
📰 In this week’s Monday Mail, I reflect on the European Convention on Human Rights; what it does, why it's important, and why it must be protected.
Read here: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/L...
Read here: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/L...
November 3, 2025 at 12:53 PM
📰 In this week’s Monday Mail, I reflect on the European Convention on Human Rights; what it does, why it's important, and why it must be protected.
Read here: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/L...
Read here: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/L...
Reposted by Phil Armitage
A day ahead of its 75th anniversary, nearly 300 UK-based organisations have spoken out in defence of the European Convention on Human Rights👇
🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... via @the-independent.com
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #ECHR75
🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... via @the-independent.com
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #ECHR75
Leaving the ECHR won’t stop the boats, 300 organisations warn in rallying cry
Prime minister Keir Starmer urged to make positive case for ECHR after Kemi Badenoch pledged a Tory government would leave the treaty
www.independent.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 9:41 AM
A day ahead of its 75th anniversary, nearly 300 UK-based organisations have spoken out in defence of the European Convention on Human Rights👇
🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... via @the-independent.com
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #ECHR75
🔗 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli... via @the-independent.com
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms #ECHR75
Reposted by Phil Armitage
I’m sure they didn’t mean to eliminate the woman in this image.
October 13, 2025 at 12:35 AM
I’m sure they didn’t mean to eliminate the woman in this image.
Really important article from @robertbuckland.bsky.social:
"Above all, it would betray a tradition of liberty under the law that Britain itself helped to shape"
"Above all, it would betray a tradition of liberty under the law that Britain itself helped to shape"
Robert Buckland: Leaving the ECHR would be a grave mistake | Conservative Home
Withdrawal from the ECHR would upset the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, compromise our extradition and security arrangements, and damage our moral authority abroad. Above all, it woul...
conservativehome.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Really important article from @robertbuckland.bsky.social:
"Above all, it would betray a tradition of liberty under the law that Britain itself helped to shape"
"Above all, it would betray a tradition of liberty under the law that Britain itself helped to shape"
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Half-baked tales of rulings turning on chicken nuggets are no basis for cutting Britain adrift. My Times piece on the Tories’ policy of leaving the ECHR based on spurious claims. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Leaving the ECHR won’t fix illegal migration
Half-baked tales of rulings turning on chicken nuggets are no basis for cutting Britain adrift
www.thetimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Half-baked tales of rulings turning on chicken nuggets are no basis for cutting Britain adrift. My Times piece on the Tories’ policy of leaving the ECHR based on spurious claims. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Reposted by Phil Armitage
I was going to go to synagogue today, but I’m honestly too shaken now - I’ll pray at home
But I just checked my email to see the details of where I was meant to go, and remembered there was a whole document they sent me on safety and security if I visited
This is life for Jewish people in the UK
But I just checked my email to see the details of where I was meant to go, and remembered there was a whole document they sent me on safety and security if I visited
This is life for Jewish people in the UK
October 2, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I was going to go to synagogue today, but I’m honestly too shaken now - I’ll pray at home
But I just checked my email to see the details of where I was meant to go, and remembered there was a whole document they sent me on safety and security if I visited
This is life for Jewish people in the UK
But I just checked my email to see the details of where I was meant to go, and remembered there was a whole document they sent me on safety and security if I visited
This is life for Jewish people in the UK
Reposted by Phil Armitage
You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.
October 2, 2025 at 11:36 AM
You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.
Reposted by Phil Armitage
This morning at #LabourConference, JUSTICE and APPEAL led a roundtable on compensating victims of miscarriages of justice, hosted by @bjcsolicitors.bsky.social
With @alexdaviesjones.bsky.social and @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social, we discussed reforming a regime forcing victims to prove innocence.
With @alexdaviesjones.bsky.social and @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social, we discussed reforming a regime forcing victims to prove innocence.
September 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM
This morning at #LabourConference, JUSTICE and APPEAL led a roundtable on compensating victims of miscarriages of justice, hosted by @bjcsolicitors.bsky.social
With @alexdaviesjones.bsky.social and @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social, we discussed reforming a regime forcing victims to prove innocence.
With @alexdaviesjones.bsky.social and @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social, we discussed reforming a regime forcing victims to prove innocence.
Reposted by Phil Armitage
For human rights scholars and court-watchers, here's a thread of some forthcoming ECHR/HRA in the UK Supreme Court's docket for the upcoming legal year (2025-26).
I think there are (at least) six cases worth keeping an eye on.
I think there are (at least) six cases worth keeping an eye on.
September 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
For human rights scholars and court-watchers, here's a thread of some forthcoming ECHR/HRA in the UK Supreme Court's docket for the upcoming legal year (2025-26).
I think there are (at least) six cases worth keeping an eye on.
I think there are (at least) six cases worth keeping an eye on.
Reposted by Phil Armitage
I'm getting really really fed up at constant reassertion that welfare spending is "out of control" when it is the same as the average for the past few decades.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
September 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I'm getting really really fed up at constant reassertion that welfare spending is "out of control" when it is the same as the average for the past few decades.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
One reason disability benefit costs have risen is because core support has fallen.
Reposted by Phil Armitage
The Home Office's appeal against this ruling has been refused
The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
Asylum Seeker Wins Bid to Delay Deportation Under U.K.-France Treaty
www.nytimes.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The Home Office's appeal against this ruling has been refused
The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
The judges threw it out in minutes, without hearing arguments from the man's lawyers, telling them "we don’t need to trouble you" after questioning Home Office barrister in an increasingly surreal exchange
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...
Reposted by Phil Armitage
Important read. Refugees caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Nothing to do for months or years. Cooking in the bathroom instead of eating constant chips and chicken nuggets. Forced to take taxis no matter the length of the journey, long or short.
September 23, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Important read. Refugees caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Nothing to do for months or years. Cooking in the bathroom instead of eating constant chips and chicken nuggets. Forced to take taxis no matter the length of the journey, long or short.
Worth sharing the Govts position from the debate that:
"...the private provision of core children’s social care services would be considered to be within scope of the Human Rights Act."
If you have any examples that raise doubts about this, please get in touch.
"...the private provision of core children’s social care services would be considered to be within scope of the Human Rights Act."
If you have any examples that raise doubts about this, please get in touch.
Around 80% of children's homes are run by for-profit companies, but there is uncertainty if the Human Rights Act always applies to them. This week Peers debated this and we provided a detailed briefing. [1/3]
September 22, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Worth sharing the Govts position from the debate that:
"...the private provision of core children’s social care services would be considered to be within scope of the Human Rights Act."
If you have any examples that raise doubts about this, please get in touch.
"...the private provision of core children’s social care services would be considered to be within scope of the Human Rights Act."
If you have any examples that raise doubts about this, please get in touch.