The Daily Populous Sunday September 13rd, 2020 evening edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by newnemo

Boris Johnson is planning to opt out of parts of the Human Rights Act, according to reports.

The prime minister is said be considering ways to prevent the legislation being used to stop deportations of asylum seekers and prosecutions of British soldiers.

A review of human rights laws has been carried out across Whitehall and its findings will be announced “in the coming weeks”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The move comes after Mr Johnson sparked fury in Europe with the Internal Market Bill to override part of the Brexit deal he signed in October.

Ministers have admitted that it would break international law but the prime minister claims it is necessary to prevent the EU “carving up our country”.

However he is facing mounting criticism from across the political spectrum, including rebel Tory MPs and former prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair.

Brussels wants the UK to commit to the European Convention on Human Rights as part of the terms of a Brexit trade agreement.

However UK negotiators have refused, claiming that the issue is a matter of “sovereignty”.

The possibility of opting out of the Human Rights Act once Britain had left the EU was raised when Theresa May was prime minister. She said during her leadership campaign in 2016 that the ECHR had made it harder to deport terror suspects and criminals.

Mr Johnson’s chief adviser Dominic Cummings is also a critic, saying in 2018 that a referendum on the ECHR would be “high on the agenda” .

The Tory election manifesto last year pledged to "update" the act after Brexit and in February it was reported that ministers were also looking at potentially suspending the ECHR.

jlmbnd1 on September 13rd, 2020 at 13:59 UTC »

You can just “opt out” of laws? Can I do that?

kevinmorice on September 13rd, 2020 at 11:20 UTC »

This was always the plan. This was made clear prior to the vote (by both sides). By all means be upset about it (I am), but this is one of the few items that was perfectly clear at the time of the referendum.

yellowkats on September 13rd, 2020 at 10:21 UTC »

I don’t think most people realise how much the EU protected us from these fuckers