Government drops Tory promise to rip up Human Rights Act
By Tobias Benedetto
A Conservative plan to scrap the Human Rights Act is not a priority, according to Kenneth Clarke, the new justice secretary.
The Tories had pledged to replace the act, which has been criticised for protecting criminals more than their victims, with a UK bill of rights.
But Mr Clarke, head of the Ministry of Justice since Wednesday, said it was not high on the list of actions. The pledge was absent from the coalition agreement published this week.
In 2006 Mr Clarke attacked David Cameron for his “anti-foreigner” proposals to tear up Labour’s Human Rights Act, calling the proposed bill of rights “xenophobic and legal nonsense”.
Shortly after taking up his new Cabinet post, Mr Clarke said: “We are not committed to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, we have committed ourselves to a British Human Rights Act.
“We are still signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“I have also got to see when the coalition agreement is completed how high a priority this is going to be given.”
The Tories had proposed a bill of rights they said would still protect fundamental liberties but would be harder to use inappropriately, following widespread concerns the Human Rights Act is too easily exploited by the undeserving over those it was designed to protect.
Heading a democracy task force for the Tories, Mr Clarke criticised the plans four years ago, saying: “On these Home Office things it is the duty of politicians to stand up to the tabloids, to turn around and argue, not let them whip up feelings that are inaccurate.”
