Now human rights pledge axed
Anger as May forced to keep law that helps terrorists to avoid justice
THERESA May has abandoned her election promise to rip up human rights legislation in terror cases – despite renewed anger that extremists are exploiting the law.
The Prime Minister announced last week that she would launch an assault on parts of the European Convention on Human Rights, which has been blamed for making it harder to deport terror suspects.
She made the pledge in the final days of the election campaign following the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
But Government sources said last night the plans were likely to be shelved following her failure to secure a Commons majority.
The decision comes despite fresh anger over the way in which terror suspects are able to exploit human rights laws to frustrate justice.
Yesterday, the Daily Mail highlighted the case of a terrorist fighting deportation who has received £250,000 in legal aid.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was caught with jihadi manuals on how to attack airports, and was described in court as the ‘model of an al Qaeda terrorist’. He is said to be using some of the money to try to stay in the UK after serving nine years in jail. He claims deportation to Jordan would breach his human rights because he could face torture.
Government sources insisted last night the proposed legislation change would have made little difference to the case. But it would have made it easier to deport hate preachers such as Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza, who used the European Convention on Human Rights to fight deportation for years.
Mrs May has been forced to axe a series of manifesto pledges after failing to win a Commons majority.
Dropped measures include a controversial shake-up of social care, a Commons vote on the repeal of the foxhunting ban, the scrapping of the triple lock on pensions and the ending of the winter fuel allowance for older people.
But Tory MP Philip Davies urged her to press ahead with the proposals last night and dare opposition MPs to vote them down. He added: ‘It is very disappointing. They may be right in terms of the numbers in the Commons, but the Prime Minister should do what she thinks is right to keep us safe.
‘She should bring forward measures she and the security services think we need. It would be for each MP to explain to constituents why they voted as they did. Woe betide anyone who votes it down.’
But Tory whips have warned Mrs May it would be all but impossible to change the law, with liberal Tories such as former attorney general Dominic Grieve likely to join the Opposition in fighting any dilution of rights. ‘It is just not a runner now,’ a source said.
The climbdown is the latest embarrassing reverse forced on the PM by the election setback.
At a speech in Slough last week she vowed to ‘make it easier to deport terrorist suspects’ and do more to ‘restrict their movements’, adding: ‘If our human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change the laws so we can do it.
‘If I am as elected Prime Minister on Thursday, I can tell you that this vital work begins on Friday.’
However, the political realities of the new Parliament mean the idea is almost certainly dead. Labour opposed the plans, with Jeremy Corbyn saying Britain ‘won’t defeat terrorism by ripping up our basic rights and our democracy’.
The Lib Dems and SNP also oppose any move to dilute human rights. Up to 30 Tory MPs also might vote against the Government on the issue. Despite the set- back, Mrs May is expected to press on with other elements of a new counter- extremism plan in next week’s Queen’s Speech. She wants to beef up anti-terror orders so suspected plotters can receive stricter curfews and bans from meeting associates and accessing computers or mobiles. She is also considering online extremism laws, including fines for social media firms that fail to remove material designed to poison young minds.
THERESA TEARS UP MANIFESTO Monday’s Daily Mail