Back to drawing board on Raab’s Bill of Rights
It will be changed to target migrants crossing Channel
LIZ Truss’s Government will go back to the drawing board on a new Bill of Rights to tackle the Channel migrants crisis, it emerged last night.
The new Prime Minister’s team confirmed that the human rights reforms – which began their passage through Parliament this year – are being ‘reviewed’.
Ministers will redraft the proposals so they are clearly targeted on ‘illegal immigration’, such as small boats arriving from France, insiders said. The move is likely to result in delays to other crucial aspects of the Bill, such as boosting free speech.
The new ministerial team believes parts of the proposed legislation were not as ‘targeted, effective or comprehensive as they could be’, sources said. A new ‘tightly focused’ package will be drawn up to ‘actually deliver what we need it to, especially on illegal immigration’.
It came as the number of migrants to reach the UK from northern France since the start of the year hit more than 27,700, compared with a record 28,526 in the whole of 2021.
Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis is expected to order civil servants to come up with a range of options to bolster the legislation.
They are likely to include a broader range of proposals to limit the use of human rights by Channel migrants and other ‘ irregular arrivals’, it is thought. The previous draft of the Bill concentrated on restricting abuse of ‘the right to private and family life’ – but a redrafted version could look at limiting other aspects of the European Convention on Human Rights. The most radical option would involve pulling Britain out of the convention.
Such a move was rejected by former justice secretary Dominic Raab, but has been strongly backed by new Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Less than a month ago, Miss Braverman said de-coupling British law from Strasbourg was a ‘national priority’. ‘We do have to do whatever it takes, and ultimately we do need to be ready to take radical action, because I think the British people expect that,’ she added. Miss Braverman said a ‘rights culture’ had been allowed to develop in the UK since the passage of Labour’s Human Rights Act in 1998.
As a result, human rights factors were allowing foreign offenders to avoid deportation, affecting the police’s ability to tackle protesters and influencing how transgender rights were approached in schools, she said.
A government source said the Bill of Rights was ‘ unlikely to progress in its current form’, but stressed that the ‘ principles and objectives’ of the proposed legislation would not be ditched.
However, Downing Street declined to guarantee that a new Bill of Rights will be introduced during the current Parliament.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘A new secretary of state will consider all policies in their area; that will include ongoing Bills proceeding through Parliament. This is no different.’
The move will raise concerns that Miss Truss’s Government will lose time in securing vital reforms to key areas of law.
The Bill of Rights would have made free speech a ‘trump card’ over other rights, barring the creation of European- style privacy laws by unelected judges through the back door.
It was drawn up following widespread concern at a legal ruling in favour of the Duchess of Sussex in a privacy dispute against The Mail on Sunday, as well as growing ‘cancel culture’ over issues such as women’s rights being eroded by transgender campaigners.
Less than a month ago, Miss Truss indicated the Bill had her support, saying: ‘What I would do if I’m elected as your prime minister is make the Rwanda policy work through the British Bill of Rights, ensuring that we can’t be over-ruled by the ECHR because we know that’s been a problem... and that stopped the policy going ahead.
‘So, I would make sure we legislate for Britain, that we are in control of our own policy, and we can’t be overwhelmed by the ECHR.’
The now- shelved Bill was the brainchild of Mr Raab – the most high-profile casualty when Miss Truss formed her Cabinet on Tuesday. The Tories first pledged a Bill of Rights when in opposition under leader David Cameron in 2007.