Rishi Sunak is being urged to scrap plans for a new Bill of Rights by a cross-party committee, which said it would create additional barriers that make it harder for people to enforce their fundamental freedoms
Rather than creating a strong new legal framework and protecting parliament's sovereignty, as the government has argued, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the proposed legislation appeared to be designed to"tip the balance" in favour of the state when facing allegations of human rights violations.
It was originally introduced under Boris Johnson by Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab only to be dropped by Liz Truss when she took the reigns in Downing Street and sacked Mr Raab.It was revived when Mr Sunak entered Number 10 and Mr Raab was reappointed to his previous role, although when he appeared before the Commons Liaison Committee last month the prime minister refused to commit to a parliamentary timetable to bring it into law.
However, committee chair Joanna Cherry said:"There is such little appetite for these reforms and the impact is likely to be so damaging to human rights protection in the UK it may be more sensible to scrap the Bill in its entirety." Dominic Raab under the spotlight: What has led to the deputy prime minister being investigated
The bill would also impact on the requirement on public bodies to investigate injustices that have led to landmark legal rulings - such as the inquests into the Hillsborough disaster, the committee said.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Nadhim Zahawi faces the sack if he misled Rishi Sunak about his £5m unpaid tax billThe Prime Minister did not know the whole truth when he publicly backed Mr Zahawi last week, Whitehall insiders say
Read more »
Bill of Rights: Call to scrap plans to rewrite human rights lawGovernment proposals 'damage people's ability to enforce their rights', a group of MPs and peers say.
Read more »
Rishi Sunak faces big test of his commitment to ‘integrity’\n\t\t\tGet local insights from Lisbon to Moscow with an unrivalled network of journalists across Europe,\n\t\t\texpert analysis, our dedicated ‘Brussels Briefing’ newsletter. Customise your myFT page to track\n\t\t\tthe countries of your choice.\n\t\t
Read more »
Rishi Sunak must 'do more than the bare minimum' to combat Tory sleaze allegationsNone of the latest scandals involving Conservative Party MPs are of Rishi Sunak's making, but he will need to show he really is prepared to deal with them differently. Read wizbates' analysis 👇
Read more »
Latest updates as Rishi Sunak remains under pressure over Nadhim Zahawi tax affairsRishi Sunak continues to face pressure to sack Nadhim Zahawi as a number of questions remain over the Conservative Party chairman’s tax affairs ⬇️ Follow the latest updates with our live blog:
Read more »