Weekly Round-Up: Hate crimes, Conservatives and the ECHR, Gaza peace deal, and asylum seeker support
13 October 2025
In UK News:
The number of hate crimes committed in England and Wales has risen since the previous year, according to statistics released by the Home Office. In the year ending March 2025, 115,990 hate crimes were recorded by the police: this marks a 2% increase overall, a 6% increase in race hate crimes, and a 3% increase in religious hate crimes. A 19% increase in religious hate crimes targeting Muslims coincided with the time of the Southport murders and the subsequent race riots across the country.
Kemi Badenoch has confirmed at the Conservative Party Conference that her party would withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act if they form the next Government. This follows a legal review by the Shadow Attorney General, Lord Wolfson, into the impact of remaining in the ECHR. The Wolfson Report concluded that ‘it is hard to overstate the impact the ECHR has had on government decisions’, placing ‘substantial’ limitations on government policies to do with immigration, veterans’ rights, benefits, and reforms to sentencing and protest laws. Read Rosalind English’s summary of the Report here: The UK can, and should leave the Human Rights Convention (7 October 2025).
In International News:
A ceasefire has been agreed for the war in Gaza. The deal, brokered by the US, provides for a cessation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas which has been ongoing since 2023. The full text of the deal — entitled ‘Implementation steps for President Trump’s proposal for a comprehensive end of Gaza War’ — has not been publicised, though parts have been published by Israeli media. Trump’s 20-point plan, announced last week, provided for Gaza to be a ‘deradicalised terror-free zone’ which will be ‘redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza’; all hostages will be released, and full aid will be sent to the Gaza Strip.
In the Courts:
An asylum seeker unsuccessfully challenged the housing and financial support given to him by Enfield Council. In R (on the application of BLV) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 2516 (Admin), the Claimant was a disabled man suffering from deafness, impaired eyesight, and major depressive and anxiety disorders. The Defendant was obliged, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, to provide ‘adequate’ accommodation and other ‘essentially living needs’ to the Claimant; under the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998, it was also bound to adjust its general approach to providing support under the IAA 1999 to account for the Claimant’s specific disabilities. The Defendant contended that Enfield’s support was inadequate for two reasons:
- His accommodation was inadequate, because it was too far away from his support network and did not have a suitable disabled lift;
- His internet access was inadequate, because it was not sufficient for him to access mental health and other support services via video-call (his deafness made it impossible to rely on voice call alone).
The court applied the ‘twin-track’ test, namely: 1) whether the Secretary of State met an objective ‘minimum standard’ for ‘ensur[ing] full respect for human dignity and a dignified standard of living, maintain[ing] an adequate standard of health and meet[ing] the subsistence needs of the asylum seeker’; 2) even if the minimum standard has been met, whether the Secretary of State complied with public law standards including rationality. The court found that (stage 1) the Claimant’s accommodation did meet the minimum standard. Furthermore, (stage 2) the Defendant’s treatment of the Claimant did not violate its duties under the EA 2010, HRA 1998, or other public law principles.
An interesting aspect of this case was that internet video calling was deemed capable of being an ‘essential living need’ because of the Claimant’s disabilities. The court ruled that ‘the concept of ‘need’ is…affected by technological progress and consequent changes in societal expectations’, and that ‘internet-based communication… has become essential for interacting with other people and accessing public services.’
