Taken off the Conservative Party website.
http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=138115
David Cameron has promised to scrap the Human Rights Act after the widow of murdered head teacher Philip Lawrence warned that the law 'bypasses humanity'.
Reaffirming the Conservative policy stance, the Party Leader seized on the controversy sparked by immigration judges ruling that Mr Lawrence's killer Learco Chindamo should not be deported because it would infringe his human rights, and called for common sense to prevail.
Mr Cameron declared: "The fact that the murderer of Philip Lawrence cannot be deported flies in the face of common sense. It is a glaring example of what is going wrong in our country. What about the rights of Mrs. Lawrence?"
He stated: "We ought to abolish the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights that we can write ourselves that sets out clearly our rights and responsibilities.
"We clearly need to recognise human rights - we believe the British Bill of Rights would do this but in a common sense way. The problem for this Government is that the Human Rights Act is their legislation and they appear to be blind to its failings."
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis accused Justice Secretary Jack Straw of 'wriggling' after he sought to claim that most of the issues raised in the Lawrence/Chindamo case arose not from the Human Rights Act, but from EU legislation negotiated and passed by Labour.
Stressing that the relevant "European Union law" was the 2004 Free Movement Directive negotiated in 2004 and passed under this Government in 2006, Mr Davis declared: "Jack Straw says the Chindamo decision is the result of an EU law not Labour's Human Rights Act.
"The court applied both laws in this case, so Mr Straw is wriggling with good reason. He was the Home Secretary that made the Human Rights Act law. And he was Foreign Secretary when the Government negotiated the 2004 EU Directive."
The Shadow Home Secretary added: "The Government has made a mess of our laws at every level with serious consequences for public safety. A Conservative Government would put a stop to this endless abdication of responsibility to Brussels, on matters affecting UK security. And we would replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights that strikes a more sensible balance between fundamental rights and the responsibilities of those claiming them."
Reaffirming the Conservative policy stance, the Party Leader seized on the controversy sparked by immigration judges ruling that Mr Lawrence's killer Learco Chindamo should not be deported because it would infringe his human rights, and called for common sense to prevail.
Mr Cameron declared: "The fact that the murderer of Philip Lawrence cannot be deported flies in the face of common sense. It is a glaring example of what is going wrong in our country. What about the rights of Mrs. Lawrence?"
He stated: "We ought to abolish the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights that we can write ourselves that sets out clearly our rights and responsibilities.
"We clearly need to recognise human rights - we believe the British Bill of Rights would do this but in a common sense way. The problem for this Government is that the Human Rights Act is their legislation and they appear to be blind to its failings."
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis accused Justice Secretary Jack Straw of 'wriggling' after he sought to claim that most of the issues raised in the Lawrence/Chindamo case arose not from the Human Rights Act, but from EU legislation negotiated and passed by Labour.
Stressing that the relevant "European Union law" was the 2004 Free Movement Directive negotiated in 2004 and passed under this Government in 2006, Mr Davis declared: "Jack Straw says the Chindamo decision is the result of an EU law not Labour's Human Rights Act.
"The court applied both laws in this case, so Mr Straw is wriggling with good reason. He was the Home Secretary that made the Human Rights Act law. And he was Foreign Secretary when the Government negotiated the 2004 EU Directive."
The Shadow Home Secretary added: "The Government has made a mess of our laws at every level with serious consequences for public safety. A Conservative Government would put a stop to this endless abdication of responsibility to Brussels, on matters affecting UK security. And we would replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights that strikes a more sensible balance between fundamental rights and the responsibilities of those claiming them."