The Guardian view on ECHR reform: times change, but universal values need defending | Editorial

Calls to modernise human rights law too often assume that hostile public opinion cannot be changed by argument from first principles

Arguments over the role of the European convention on human rights in asylum policy express a tension between the politics of an ever-changing world and the principle of immutable humanitarian values.

When Sir Keir Starmer observes that population flows in 2025 are different to conditions 75 years ago, when the ECHR was drafted, and that governments have a duty to adapt to the change, he is responding to political reality.