DAVID Cameron has been warned that his determination to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights will cause a constitutional crisis with the Scottish Parliament and could spark strong opposition from within the Conservative Party.
The Prime Minister hailed the UK Government’s “One Nation Queen’s Speech” as a bold and radical agenda but he removed the Bill of Rights from the heart of the 20 Bill programme, saying only it would go out to consultation. Critics said he had done so in order not to inflame any further the issue of sovereignty in the heated EU referendum debate.
But No 10 later made clear that, once the In-Out debate was over, ministers would come forward with proposals to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a bill of rights “this year” and then would put them out to consultation.
Asked if the PM envisaged a problem with the Scottish Parliament, which is strongly opposed to scrapping the current human rights legislation, which underpins the Scotland Act, the spokesman replied: “Those are the kind of issues we will be considering once we publish our proposals.”
Asked if Mr Cameron believed he could overcome Scottish opposition, he added: “Let’s get the proposals up first and then we will put it to consultation and discuss that then.”
But the SNP’s Joanna Cherry pointed out that human rights were not a reserved but a devolved issue.
READ MORE: British Bill of Rights 'will damage UK abroad', peers warn
She explained if the UK Government wanted to repeal the Human Rights Act and legislate, it would need the consent of the Scottish Parliament, which, given the level of opposition, it would “absolutely not” receive.
The Edinburgh MP, who is her party’s justice spokeswoman, made clear human rights informed everything Holyrood did. She added: “The Tory Party made a gung-ho commitment in their manifesto, which they have realised when they started to take legal advice, they couldn’t deliver on without causing a constitutional crisis.”
Labour’s Lord Falconer, the shadow justice secretary, was also critical, saying it was not right “our government keeps this cloud hanging over our commitment to human rights” but Matt Hancock, the Cabinet Office minister, insisted the Government was determined to press ahead, saying: “We have a manifesto commitment and we are absolutely driving towards delivering it.”
Meantime, Tory backbencher, Sir Edward Garnier, a former solicitor general, described the proposed bill of rights as “a dead horse,” and warned Mr Cameron his plans might not get through the Commons because so many Tory MPs were opposed to it.
Elsewhere, the Scottish Human Rights Commission claimed there was “no appetite for a British bill of rights in Scotland” but the Law Society of Scotland, while it said the Human Rights Act had been extremely effective in protecting people’s rights, said there was “room for improvement”, and the planned bill of rights could build on and enhance the current protections.
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