Former Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael has warned that Conservative plans to scrap the Human Rights Act could undermine the Union.

The Tories they risked creating more problems "than they realised" with the proposals, he said.

Scotland's only Liberal Democrat MP predicated that Holyrood would vote against the plan, a move that could provoke a constitutional clash.

Ministers could then only implement the Act in Scotland if they ignored the so-called Sewell Convention, that the UK does not legislate in devolved areas without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Carmichael predicted that Holyrood would not back the plans.

"Given recent votes in the parliament I do not see how that is going to happen," he told MPs during a debate in Westminster Hall.

The Conservative manifesto pledged to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new British Bill of Rights.

The party says that the move would emphasise the primacy of British courts.

But Mr Carmichael said that the Human Rights Act was "hard-wired" into the devolution settlements of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, he said.

The proposals would create "more problems for (the Conservative Government) than they realised", he predicted.

In Northern Ireland in particular, he said, the commitments on human rights in the Act had allowed many o take a "leap of faith" towards peace.

He added that the peace process there remained "fragile and ... we should never take its continuation for granted".

While there was no denying controversies, including over giving votes to prisoners, Mr Carmichael said: "Human rights are not just there for the nice people".

Joanna Cherry, for the SNP, said that repealing the Human Rights Act "would be sending out the wrong message".

Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney General, said that the Act had "conferred huge benefits on this country".

He also predicted that his own party did not have the support of a majority in the Commons on the issue.

Justice minister Dominic Raab warned of "rights inflation" which he said had reduced personal responsibility.

He said the government was not "going to rush" and would take its time on the proposed reforms.