Human Rights Act Safe Under ConDemNation?

Ken Clarke is now the Justice Secretary, a role which had been expected to steer the repeal of the Human Rights Act if David Cameron became PM. But take a look at Clarke’s views on that idea, as recently as 2006:

Mr Clarke, a former home secretary and failed Tory leadership contender, has become the latest critic of the proposal.

He said he was not saying Mr Cameron hated foreigners.

Mr Clarke told BBC 2′s Daily Politics programme the European convention had itself been drawn up by a British lawyer.

The Tory leader is appointing a group of lawyers and experts to work out what should be in the new British Bill of Rights.

But Mr Clarke said: “He’s gone out there to try and find some lawyers who agree with him, which I think will be a struggle myself.”

The Human Rights Act has come under fire in some newspapers, who believe it has put the rights of criminals above those of victims of crime.

But Mr Clarke said: “In these home affairs things I think occasionally it’s the duty of politicians on both sides to turn round to the tabloids and right-wing newspapers and say ‘you have your facts wrong and you’re whipping up facts which are inaccurate’.”

Is Clarke going to completely undermine himself or does his appointment signal Cameron accepts he won’t be able to repeal the Human Rights Act with the Liberal Democrats as coalition partners?

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