An interesting debate is taking place in the Conservative Party about human rights legislation. On the one hand, the leadership says it plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a ‘Bill of Rights’. The driving force for this is that the current law is seen to cede power to a foreign court, and also leads to decisions that are against Britain’s best interests.

On the other hand, there is now a fight back from some influential conservatives. These include Jesse Norman, the former Shadow Cabinet Adviser, who is a Tory Parliamentary candidate; and Peter Oborne, journalist and leading commentator (he is a Daily Mail columnist). They argue in a pamphlet published by Liberty, the Human Rights Group, that the approach being taken is completely misguided.

Oborne says:

‘Like many conservatives, I was sceptical of the Human Rights Act until I read it and started to think about it. It soon became clear that it was a near perfect expression of Tory values.’

Norman comments:

‘Astonishing as it may seem, the Human Rights Act is a thoroughly conservative document. Its rights were inspired by Sir Winston Churchill and drafted by conservative politicians. It is conservative in its substance and operation. It is time now for the Conservative Party to reclaim this legacy.’

They expand on their arguments in ‘Churchill’s Legacy: The Conservative case for the Human Rights Act’, available from Liberty.

For their part Liberty has launched a campaign to defend the Human Rights Act called ‘Common Values’, with a lively debate recently taking place at a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference.

Go to the Liberty and Conservative web sites for more information on what promises to be a protracted and increasingly bitter area of debate.