ECHR debate kicked into long grass

Friday, 18th March 2011

"What is the point of this much vaunted Commission?" asked Gerard Batten, the UKIP spokesman on Constitutional Affairs, talking after the launch of the Government's Commission on a UK Bill of Rights launched.

"Like so many things created by the Government it has already decided it has already decided its result. It's terms of reference state clearly that we must build "on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights" and ensure "that these rights continue to be enshrined in UK law.

"The whole point of the Commission and the manifesto promises was to look at the issues of a British bill of Rights without prejudice. This Government is proving that it has no desire to do so.

"Of course", said Mr. Batten "we already have a Bill of Rights, passed in 1689 but it is routinely ignored by the Courts, so enamored are they of judicial politicking and the influence of international courts.

"This country must set its own laws and own liberties," he said.