Thursday 8 September 2022 12:05 AM It's back to the drawing board on Bill of Rights as Liz Truss's team plans ... trends now
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’.
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
Ministers will redraft the proposals so they are clearly targeted on ‘illegal immigration’, such as small boats arriving from France, insiders said
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’.
The now-shelved Bill was the brainchild of Mr Raab – the most high-profile casualty when Miss Truss formed her Cabinet on Tuesday
‘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.
