Cameron Pledges To Pull Out Of Human Rights Body

Cameron Pledges To Pull Out Of Human Rights Body

David Cameron has pledged to look at ways to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in the light of the sacking of his most senior legal advisor, according to the Daily Telegraph. The Prime Minister is believed to have wanted rid of the Attorney General Dominic Grieve because he was supportive of Britain’s continued ECHR membership.

Along with the Liberal Democrats, the “wet” barrister was able to thwart attempts to either reform the ECHR, and were opposed to pulling out altogether. The plan to reform it is being led by the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling but Grieve has pledged to continue to fight for Britain’s membership from the backbenchers.

Grieve is understood to believe ECHR is about the fundamental rights of the citizen and should be cherished in the same way Manga Carta and Habeas Corpus are. But this is not a view shared amongst Conservatives, who cite examples of foreign criminals being allowed to stay in the country as evidence it is not working.

Criminals, for example, can claim they have a “right to family life” and that their deportation would rob them of that as their families would stay in the UK. This has allowed rapists, paedophiles and drug dealers to remain in the country when the government had wanted them deported. In one case the Home Secretary claimed a foreign criminal had been allowed to stay in the country to spend time with his cat. 



“Whilst we can pull out very easily from the European Convention on Human Rights if we wanted to, there would be serious reputational issues if we were to do it,” he said. 


The Conservatives are likely to go into the next election with a policy to repealing the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the European Convention in British law, and instead passing a British Bill of Rights. The exact details of it have not yet been published but they it is likely to resolve many of the problems identified with ECHR.

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