Only under a Tory Government would they look to abolish your basic Human Rights.. You just get the feeling there is more to this than meets the eye..
Cameron terror warning over Human Rights Act
By JAMES CHAPMAN, Daily Mail
Foreign terrorists will be free to come to Britain safe in the knowledge that they will never be sent home unless the Human Rights Act is scrapped, David Cameron has warned.
The Tory leader dismissed criticism of his plans to replace Labour's controversial legislation with a new Bill of Rights, the first in British law for more than 300 years.
He insisted European courts would defer to a new US-style code spelling out the rights and responsibilities of all Britons.
He highlighted the example of Germany, which had its own 'basic law' which was respected by the European courts.
Mr Cameron's pledge put Labour on the defensive, with Attorney General Lord Goldsmith branding it 'muddled' and 'dangerous'.
But Mr Cameron pointed out that Tony Blair had himself complained about the need to 'rebalance' the rights of victims and criminals only last week.
'The Prime Minister seems unwilling or unable to accept the consequences of his own legislation,' he said.
In a speech to the centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, Mr Cameron said it was particularly outrageous that the Human Rights Act had made it impossible to deport many foreign terrorist suspects.
He highlighted a ruling in the High Court that meant armed plane hijackers could not be sent back to Afghanistan because there was deemed to be a risk that they could face abuse on return.
The Human Rights Act, which became law in 2000, makes it illegal for public bodies to violate the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.
These include the 'prohibition of discrimination', 'prohibition of abuse of rights' and 'right to respect for private and family life'.
In practice, the rights are so loosely phrased that the Act has paved the way for a series of controversial and often bizarre challenges by criminals, asylum seekers and foreigners seeking treatment on the NHS.
Mr Cameron said the Act was 'practically an invitation for terrorists and would-be terrorists to come to Britain'.
They could do so 'safe in the knowledge that whatever crime they may have committed in their home country and whatever suspicion there may be that they might be planning a terrorist attack in the UK or elsewhere they won't be sent back to their country of origin and may not even be detained'.
He conceded that some rulings under the Human Rights Act had been welcome, such as the right of an elderly married couple not to be separated in different care homes.
But he cited a series of other areas where the Act had made the fight against crime harder.
It had hampered the search for foreign prisoners wrongly released by the Government because police forces were fearful that issuing 'Wanted' posters would contravene the 'right to respect for their private and family life', he said.
Attempts to seize the assets of major criminals had been thwarted by legal challenges brought under the Act.
And convicted rapist Anthony Rice was wrongly released from prison to commit murder because officials had been concerned that he might sue them for breaching his 'human rights'.
Mr Cameron said abolishing the Act and leaving nothing in its place would not solve the problem.
That would simply result in a 'procession' of cases going to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
He also rejected calls to pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) altogether.
Britons could then be left at the mercy of a government that wanted to scrap ancient freedoms, while the move would also send the wrong message to new EU countries Britain encouraged to sign up to ECHR.
The best option, he said, was for new British legislation clearly setting out people's rights while strengthening the hand of the authorities in the fight against crime and terrorism.
A modern British Bill of Rights would define 'the core values which give us our identity as a free nation', he said.
'It should spell out the fundamental duties and responsibilities of people living in this country both as citizens and foreign nationals,' he added.
It would also guide the judiciary and enshrine fundamental liberties such as jury trial, equality under the law and civil rights.
The Tory leader said he would appoint a panel of legal and constitutional experts to draw up a new Bill of Rights.
Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said the Government was already reviewing the operation of the Human Rights Act.
But he insisted: 'I'm quite sure the solution is not the one David Cameron is proposing.
'You don't rewrite basic human rights because they seem inconvenient.'
The Liberal Democrats appeared at odds over Mr Cameron's proposals.
The party's constitutional affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said his suggestion of a new Bill of Rights was 'tentative' but 'welcome'.
But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell later insisted the Human Rights Act did not need a fundamental overhaul.
Cameron terror warning over Human Rights Act
By JAMES CHAPMAN, Daily Mail
Foreign terrorists will be free to come to Britain safe in the knowledge that they will never be sent home unless the Human Rights Act is scrapped, David Cameron has warned.
The Tory leader dismissed criticism of his plans to replace Labour's controversial legislation with a new Bill of Rights, the first in British law for more than 300 years.
He insisted European courts would defer to a new US-style code spelling out the rights and responsibilities of all Britons.
He highlighted the example of Germany, which had its own 'basic law' which was respected by the European courts.
Mr Cameron's pledge put Labour on the defensive, with Attorney General Lord Goldsmith branding it 'muddled' and 'dangerous'.
But Mr Cameron pointed out that Tony Blair had himself complained about the need to 'rebalance' the rights of victims and criminals only last week.
'The Prime Minister seems unwilling or unable to accept the consequences of his own legislation,' he said.
In a speech to the centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, Mr Cameron said it was particularly outrageous that the Human Rights Act had made it impossible to deport many foreign terrorist suspects.
He highlighted a ruling in the High Court that meant armed plane hijackers could not be sent back to Afghanistan because there was deemed to be a risk that they could face abuse on return.
The Human Rights Act, which became law in 2000, makes it illegal for public bodies to violate the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.
These include the 'prohibition of discrimination', 'prohibition of abuse of rights' and 'right to respect for private and family life'.
In practice, the rights are so loosely phrased that the Act has paved the way for a series of controversial and often bizarre challenges by criminals, asylum seekers and foreigners seeking treatment on the NHS.
Mr Cameron said the Act was 'practically an invitation for terrorists and would-be terrorists to come to Britain'.
They could do so 'safe in the knowledge that whatever crime they may have committed in their home country and whatever suspicion there may be that they might be planning a terrorist attack in the UK or elsewhere they won't be sent back to their country of origin and may not even be detained'.
He conceded that some rulings under the Human Rights Act had been welcome, such as the right of an elderly married couple not to be separated in different care homes.
But he cited a series of other areas where the Act had made the fight against crime harder.
It had hampered the search for foreign prisoners wrongly released by the Government because police forces were fearful that issuing 'Wanted' posters would contravene the 'right to respect for their private and family life', he said.
Attempts to seize the assets of major criminals had been thwarted by legal challenges brought under the Act.
And convicted rapist Anthony Rice was wrongly released from prison to commit murder because officials had been concerned that he might sue them for breaching his 'human rights'.
Mr Cameron said abolishing the Act and leaving nothing in its place would not solve the problem.
That would simply result in a 'procession' of cases going to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
He also rejected calls to pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) altogether.
Britons could then be left at the mercy of a government that wanted to scrap ancient freedoms, while the move would also send the wrong message to new EU countries Britain encouraged to sign up to ECHR.
The best option, he said, was for new British legislation clearly setting out people's rights while strengthening the hand of the authorities in the fight against crime and terrorism.
A modern British Bill of Rights would define 'the core values which give us our identity as a free nation', he said.
'It should spell out the fundamental duties and responsibilities of people living in this country both as citizens and foreign nationals,' he added.
It would also guide the judiciary and enshrine fundamental liberties such as jury trial, equality under the law and civil rights.
The Tory leader said he would appoint a panel of legal and constitutional experts to draw up a new Bill of Rights.
Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said the Government was already reviewing the operation of the Human Rights Act.
But he insisted: 'I'm quite sure the solution is not the one David Cameron is proposing.
'You don't rewrite basic human rights because they seem inconvenient.'
The Liberal Democrats appeared at odds over Mr Cameron's proposals.
The party's constitutional affairs spokesman Simon Hughes said his suggestion of a new Bill of Rights was 'tentative' but 'welcome'.
But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell later insisted the Human Rights Act did not need a fundamental overhaul.
