TORY plans to withdraw from the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would remove an essential safety net and
“beggar belief,” Amnesty said yesterday.
Prime Minister David Cameron has
reportedly been presented with proposals on human-rights law this week,
drawn up by a working group of Conservative lawyers, suggesting that the
plan for an alternative British bill of rights could force changes in
the way the ECHR operates.
But the lawyers also acknowledge that the
changes could lead to Britain being expelled from the 47-member Council
of Europe, which upholds human rights across the continent.
Amnesty International UK policy head Allan Hogarth warned the move would “rip away” our human-rights safety net.
“The steady drumbeat of threats to
dismantle human-rights protections for people in the UK reached a manic
crescendo this week,” he said.
“These latest reports beggar belief and, if true, reveal a plan which is both immature and ill conceived.
“Cameron appears intent on rubbishing the
UK’s commitment to human rights and so undermining its influence as a
moral authority on the world stage.”
