Conservatives pledge to introduce UK Bill of Rights

The Conservatives would introduce a US-style Bill of Rights if they get into power, party leader David Cameron has announced.

Mr Cameron said that the Human Rights Act had "hampered" the fight against crime and terrorism.

In a speech to the Centre for Policy Studies in London, the Conservative leader said that some public bodies were in danger of not performing their job properly because they were frightened of being sued under the Human Rights Act.

He said that a "clear articulation of citizens' rights" was needed in British courts, although he said that he wanted Britain to remain signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, he acknowledged that it would be complicated to draw up a draft Bill of Rights and said that he would appoint a panel of lawyers to examine the possibilities.

Mr Cameron's proposals have been criticised by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who described them as "muddled" and "dangerous".

Sir Menzies Campbell said: "Even by Mr Cameron's standards, this is a broad set of competing opinions packed within a single speech.

"Let us be clear what David Cameron is planning. Under the Tory proposals, British citizens would have to take their cases to Strasbourg if they did not feel they had found justice in the British courts.

"The whole point of the Human Rights Act is that British citizens have access to the same rights as everyone else, through the British courts.

"David Cameron wants to ration those freedoms. There will be a wide set of rights for those wealthy enough to take their cases to Strasbourg and restricted rights for everyone else.

"These precious freedoms are deeply rooted in British thinking and British political history. They must not be discarded in a Tory bid for a few anti-European headlines."

(KMcA/CD)