MICHAEL Gove is facing fresh calls to reverse plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, following reports that he is considering drawing up an English-only Bill to circumvent SNP opposition.
The Conservatives had pledged to repeal the legislation and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. However, the UK Government ran into difficulty when Holyrood, which it is expected would be required to give consent, said it would strongly oppose the move which has also encountered resistance in the other devolved assemblies.
Scotland's social justice secretary Alex Neil is on the record as saying: "The Scottish Government's position is that these proposals will require legislative consent, and this parliament [Holyrood] should make clear that such consent will not be given."
In a bid to get around the issue, Mr Gove is reportedly considering introducing an English-only Bill to break links with the European court in Strasbourg, which would not apply in Scotland.
In the Queen's Speech, the Tories delayed its plans by announcing a consultation rather than committing to follow through on its manifesto pledge as soon as possible.
Lord Falconer, Labour's Shadow Justice Secretary, said: "This is a shambles and yet more evidence that the Tories are making it up as they go along.
"Once again, David Cameron and Michael Gove are playing with the future of our Union and using division to appease their backbenchers. Instead of coming up with cobbled-together solutions, they should listen and drop any plans to scrap people's human rights protections. If they don't, Labour will oppose them all the way."
The Ministry of Justice has said that the UK Government would be considering the implications of a British Bill of Rights on devolution as it developed its proposals and added that it would "fully engage with the devolved administrations".
Speaking in Edinburgh last month, the Prime Minister claimed he had a mandate to scrap the Human Rights Act across the UK. He added: "Clearly, there are going to have to be discussions between the UK and Scottish Governments and indeed UK and Welsh Governments about how exactly to make this work. There are some great complexities here but I'm sure it's not beyond the wit of clever people to make this work."
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