Theresa May has accepted that she will have to put David Cameron’s plan to publish a British bill of rights on hold until after Brexit, and perhaps beyond the next general election.
Cameron, May’s predecessor as prime minister, had planned to repeal the Human Rights Act, passed by the Labour government to enshrine the European Convention on Human Rights in domestic law, and replace it with a distinct and more limited British bill of rights.
The justice secretary, Liz Truss, reaffirmed that policy in August; but No 10 has now accepted that it would create too much of a backlash among restive Conservative MPs. “We have got a lot on our plates at the moment,” said one Downing Street source.
One critical backbencher said “she just wouldn’t get it through”, warning that a British bill of rights would be seen as a watering down of long-established guarantees.
Some senior Conservatives would like May to take the more radical step of fighting the 2020 general election on a pledge to pull Britain out of the ECHR, as she hinted she would like to do during the referendum campaign when she was home secretary.
Leaving the ECHR would mean a British bill of rights would be enforced by the supreme court in London, rather than the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.
During her Conservative leadership campaign, May said she would not pursue that objective immediately, because it would be “divisive”, and she would be unlikely to win parliamentary support. But that would not prevent her from including it among policy pledges in a future manifesto.
However, the plan would be unpopular among liberal Conservatives. Ryan Shorthouse, director of the Bright Blue thinktank, said: “The European court of human rights has strengthened human rights in more oppressive countries than Britain, such as the rights of illegitimate children, the right of fair trial and the rights of gay and lesbian people.
“Now, more than ever, we need Britain to be a global leader in defending international institutions and rules established after the second world war to maximise freedom, peace and prosperity across the world.”
Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, said: “The hallmark of Theresa May’s leadership to date has been an unwillingness to be held to account, particularly over Brexit. She is clearly uncomfortable with transparency and accountability. Repealing the Human Rights Act would further reduce transparency and accountability, not only of the government but also of all public authorities.”
The ECHR, set up to safeguard basic human rights across the continent after of the second world war, is separate from European Union membership. May’s suggestion that Britain should leave, which was not government policy at the time, sparked a furious row.
Michael Gove, then the justice secretary, who campaigned to leave the EU, said he would prefer Britain to remain a signatory to the convention, which is accepted by almost all European states.
The ECHR was set up by 10 European states in 1949, with Britain as a founder member, and inspired by a proposal by the Conservative prime minister Winston Churchill for “a charter of human rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law”. There are almost 50 signatories.
But some Conservative MPs, including many Brexiters, believe the ECHR has overstepped its original purpose and interferes too much in domestic policy. Chris Grayling, now the transport secretary, is among those senior cabinet ministers who have criticised it.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: “We will set out our proposals for a bill of rights in due course. We will consult fully on our proposals.”