HUMAN RIGHTS REFORM ON ICE
Tory pledge is shelved ‘to save PM from EU row’ ... and so is the war on obesity
MINISTERS have been accused of shelving key policies until after the EU referendum to spare the Prime Minister from difficult arguments.
A Tory promise to end the rampant abuse of human rights law has been put off indefinitely to avoid an explosive new row on Europe, it was claimed.
And the Government admitted last night it had postponed its landmark obesity strategy until after the referendum on June 23.
David Cameron personally promised to replace Labour’s Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights almost a decade ago.
Officials say the legislation – which includes major protections for British troops fighting overseas – has now been completed by Justice Secretary Michael Gove and is sitting on a desk inside No 10. But, to the fury of defence officials, Downing Street is refusing to publish the legislation, they say. Insiders believe the explanation is Mr Gove’s decision to defect to the Out camp in the referendum.
The legislation will protect the British legal system from the European Court of Human Rights, a non-EU institution in Strasbourg. But it does not address the powers of the European Court of Justice, an increasingly activist EU court which Mr Gove says has the power to rip up the PM’s referendum deal.
Whitehall sources say No 10 has calculated that, if the legislation is published, Mr Gove will inevitably be asked about the creeping impact of the ECJ. Dominic Raab, the minister in charge of the legislation, has also declared for Out.
Officials fear the row which would take place when Mr Gove pointed out the huge power of the ECJ would overshadow the legislation and subject Mr Cameron to fresh embarrassment over his limited reforms. So, as a result, they have parked a Bill that was supposed to be one of the Government’s top priorities.
Some insiders say that it may now not see daylight until July at the earliest. In the meantime foreign criminals will be free to continue to use Labour’s Human Rights Act to cheat deportation, and British troops will remain liable to be sued for actions taken on foreign battlefields.
No 10 aides last night denied the document was complete. They said work was ongoing to tackle the issue of how to stop lawyers making spurious claims against British troops.
But senior officials in a number of Government departments insist that it is finished. One said: ‘Our troops, in particular, need this legislation. It is so infuriating it is being delayed just to spare the PM’s blushes on the EU and make it more likely he’ll win the referendum.’
The Bill has won the approval of Home Secretary Theresa May, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. But No 10 has not yet even put it before a meeting of the Cabinet’s home affairs committee, sources said. This is the next stage it must pass before publication.
The delay will enrage Tory backbenchers who have long railed against the Human Rights Act.
Officials in the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office are keen for the Bill to be introduced as fast as possible. It will grant the Armed Forces greater protection from human rights cases – with the law no longer applying to what happens on the battlefield overseas. Legal challenges over incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the taxpayer £85million.
The Government yesterday confirmed that its long-awaited obesity strategy had been put on hold until after the EU referendum.
It was meant to include tough new controls on junk food adverts and measures to force manufacturers to slash sugar and calorie content of everyday products.
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