A damning new report from Policy Exchange has blasted the Conservatives’ record on attempted reforms to Britain’s human rights law – and argues that the most effective remedy is to leave the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act. No more half-measures…
The report, written by Professor Richard Ekins and Sir Stephen Laws, makes clear that marginal tinkering and confused objectives allowed Strasbourg to expand its influence unchecked, with the UK left bound to rulings that undermined both democracy and effective government. Lord Faulks, endorsing the report, said:
“The authors have provided an invaluable legal road map for policy makers. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the HRA and our membership of the ECHR is seriously inhibiting the Government’s freedom to respond to what is regarded by many as the “emergency” of illegal migration. This is the current issue, but there will be others as long as we retain the current legal architecture for the protection of human rights.”
Former Justice Secretary Michael Gove also lends his support to the paper. Of course, the likelihood of the current Labour government doing anything so bold is next to zero. The Tories at least, to atone for their sins, are set to commit to withdrawing from the ECHR at their upcoming conference. Any shadow cabinet minister looking for guidance on how to do that can read PX’s full report here…
Speaking to Adam Boulton on Times Radio about kicking the Golders Green suspect, Heidi Alexander said:
“I thought that if I was in the shoes of that police officer, then if I’m honest, given the situation, and the fact that he had a backpack on his back, and they were worried about whether that might go off, I could, if I was a police officer, frankly, I could see myself having taken similar action.”