Government finally confirms it is shelving PM’s promised British Bill of Rights but now blames BREXIT
Government said the country could only deal with one constitutional change at a time
THERESA MAY has shelved plans for to introduce a new British Bill of Rights –because of Brexit.
Justice Secretary Liz Truss yesterday said that despite the Tories’ manifesto commitment the Government could only do “one constitutional reform at a time”.
It means the new Bill – designed to replace the Human Rights Act – will not now come into force until after the next General Election in 2020.
The Human Rights Act was introduced by the last Labour Government to enshrine the European Court of Human Rights in UK law.
Ex-PM David Cameron pledged to scrap the bill after rulings that stopped the UK deporting suspected terrorists – and dictats for the UK to give prisoners the vote.
One Tory yesterday said: “The idea was that the new Bill of Rights would let us keep the good bits of the ECHR but drop the bad bits.
“It’s pretty clear we now won’t see it for some time.”
Ms Truss told political bible The House that the new Bill “remains a commitment”.
But she said the Commons would be dominated by Brexit and the Great Repeal Bill – which will cut and paste EU law into UK legislation.
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She said: “Give that we are leaving the European Union and we will have the Great Repeal Bill going through Parliament, clearly hat is going to signify a major constitutional change.
“So the British Bill of Rights is not something we can do at the same time as we are putting through the Great Repeal Bill.
“That is going to affect the Constitution. It’s important we only do one constitution reform at a time.”
The comments will fuel speculation Theresa May wants to fight the 2020 Election on withdrawing from the ECHR – as claimed at the end of last year.
The move follows claims the Bill of Rights was causing yet another war of words with the SNP – who have vehemently opposed the legislation.
Tory Eurosceptics have long claimed European human rights laws have had a “chilling effect” on the UK. Asylum seeker Aso Mohammed Ibrahim – who killed a 12 year-old in a hit and run incident - was one of a number of criminals who used human rights laws to fight their deportation.