UK will be bound by human rights laws for another five years as Theresa May drops pledge to pull out of European convention
- Prime Minister is likely to drop pledge on the European Convention of Human Rights
- As Home Secretary, she said the ECHR prevented her from extraditing radical hate preacher Abu Qatada
- But senior sources say the pledge will distract from Brexit negotiations
- It is not expected to feature in the Conservatives' 2017 election manifesto
Theresa May is expected to drop a Conservative pledge to leave the European Convention of Human Rights
Theresa May is to drop a pledge to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Prime Minister said she wanted to leave the convention while she was Home Secretary, saying it frustrated her plans to deport hate preacher Abu Qatada.
But in her new role at Number 10, she is expected to drop the pledge from the new Conservative manifesto, deeming it a distraction to Brexit negotiations.
The Telegraph reports this would leave Britain tied to the convention for another five years, until 2022.
At the end of December last year, the Prime Minister said she would be committed to pulling out of the ECHR, laying out plans for a 2020 manifesto.
She intended to enshrine the same rights in UK law, cutting off the overriding power from the Strasbourg court.
But earlier this week, liberal Conservatives were reportedly concerned she would see the election as an opportunity to get a mandate to pull out as well as strengthening her Brexit plans.
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According to the Guardian, former attorney general Dominic Grieve, former culture secretary Maria Miller and former environment secretary Caroline Spelman, all back plans to remain in the ECHR.
The ECHR exists entirely separately from the European Union, and so Mrs May's mandate on Brexit does not necessarily equate to one to pull the UK out of the convention.
As Home Secretary, Mrs May said the ECHR frustrated her plans to deport radical preacher Abu Qatada, above. The ECHR ruled he could not return to Jordan as he may be tried on evidence obtained by torture
It offers rights and freedoms to European citizens, including rights to a fair trial, privacy, expression and freedom of thought.
As Justice Secretary as far back as 2014, Chris Grayling said a future Conservative government would consider leaving the ECHR.
In 2012, the ECHR ruled the UK could not deport Qatada, on the basis that returning him to Jordan meant he may be tried based on evidence obtained through torture.
In the 2015 Conservative manifesto, the party stated: 'The European Court of Human Rights has developed ‘mission creep’. Strasbourg adopts a principle of interpretation that regards the Convention as a ‘living instrument’.
Mrs May, left, and right with Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday, is said to believe that including the commitment to leaving the convention will distract from her Brexit negotiations
'Even allowing for necessary changes over the decades, the ECtHR has used its ‘living instrument doctrine’ to expand Convention rights into new areas, and certainly beyond what the framers of the Convention had in mind when they signed up to it.'
It pledged reforms to reduce the role of the ECHR in Britain to an 'advisory body', without the ability to change UK law.
The leak comes as Mrs May hosted President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator for a working dinner at Number 10.
It was the first time the Prime Minister had met Michel Barnier face-to-face. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said she had told the pair she wanted a 'deep and special relationship' between the EU and Britain after Brexit.
'The PM had a constructive meeting this evening with President Juncker of the European Commission,' the spokesperson said in a statement.
'Following the UK's letter of notification under Article 50 (that it is exiting the EU), she reiterated the UK's commitment to achieving a deep and special partnership with the European Union.'
The meeting was seen as a sign the Prime Minister is determined to personally steer through Brexit after promising Britons she will deliver on the historic referendum vote.
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