Gloating leftie lawyers rejoice as Liz Truss shelves plans to rip up Human Rights Act
GLOATING left-wing lawyers and campaigners were rejoicing after Liz Truss shelved plans to rip up the Human Rights Act.
The new Bill of Rights designed to enshrine UK judges’ supremacy over the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was declared “dead in the water”.
It was due to be debated by MPs for the first time next Monday, but was iced by the new PM after the first meeting of her new Cabinet.
It throws into doubt the Government’s flagship plan to send Channel migrants to Rwanda which had been blocked by the ECHR.
The bill was intended to make clear that the UK’s Supreme Court had legal supremacy and ECHR decisions did not always need to be followed in the UK.
It included measures to protect free speech and press independence and make it easier for the UK to kick out foreign criminals.
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Its backers say delaying the law, a 2019 Tory manifesto commitment, will sink parole system reforms and tackling extremism in jails.
Government insiders, however, say it was poorly drafted and risked being “shredded” in the Lords or amended beyond recognition as it was so wide in scope.
Former No10 aide, Rajiv Shah, said there were doubts over whether it would work.
He said: “It has a number of provisions that look like red meat, but actually it’s a vegan steak.”
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No10 sources said a new law would be brought forward so migrants could be sent to Rwanda.
However, the delay means it faces a tight timetable to get on the statute book. The rest of the bill appears to be doomed.
One source said: “It’s dead in the water and won’t come back in anything like its current form.”
PM Truss privately told Tory MPs she was “committed to legislating so we can override the European Court if necessary on immigration and asylum” — but that the current legislation needed tweaking.
The climbdown came as:
- PM Truss was accused of breaking a pledge she made to The Sun to appoint a dedicated minister for veterans,
- SHE confirmed the Online Harms Bill would be redrafted after a free speech backlash, and,
- NEW Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the Government was failing on law and order.
Ex-Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer last night accused the PM of telling “a bare-faced lie” to the nation’s 2.2million former service personnel.
Ms Truss signed The Sun’s Veterans Pledge which promised a dedicated Veterans Minister but has asked Armed Forces Minister James Heappey to merge the job into his brief.
Mr Mercer — sacked on Tuesday — said combining the two undid three years of progress that saw veterans’ issues separated from defence where they were “poorly served for so long.”
He accused the PM of “giggling in our meeting while she did it”.
His wife, Felicity, called the PM an “imbecile” for sacking her husband.
No10 said the “Cabinet restructure” would see the best people in post.
The PM’s official spokesman said: “I’m confident the minister recognises the huge importance of looking after our armed forces personnel.”
Yesterday Ms Truss also confirmed that the Online Harms Bill would be subject to “some tweaks” over concerns it would impinge on free speech.
‘IMBECILE’
Tory MPs have raised concerns that provisions to outlaw “legal but harmful content” online risked handing social media giants vast censorship powers.
No10 said all policies and laws Boris Johnson’s government were working on were up for review under Ms Truss.
Her spokesman said: “A new secretary of state will consider all policies in their area, that will include ongoing bills proceeding through Parliament.”
Meanwhile Home Secretary Braverman said tackling the Channel migrant crisis would be one of her “obsessions”.
She promised a “firmer line” to defeat people traffickers and told civil servants: “This is not just a manifesto pledge – people are dying.”
Vowing to blitz street crime, she admitted: “People are not feeling safe nowadays.”
Lawyers and campaigners, meanwhile, revelled in the decision to junk the British Bill of Rights.
Laura Trevelyan, of Amnesty International, said: “The prospect of watering down, or even ripping up, the Human Rights Act was genuinely disturbing for anyone who cares about rights and justice.”
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The Law Society said the Bill of Rights needed “a complete rethink” and said the draft was “a lurch backwards for British justice”.
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said it was “good news for those Conservatives who strongly disagreed with this wrongheaded and regressive bill.”