Theresa May is planning to make pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights a central aspect of her 2020 General Election campaign, transferring power to the Supreme Court under British law.
The idea of leaving the ECHR and enshrining the rights in a British Bill of Rights has been mooted before, but remains controversial. May’s predecessor David Cameron had also outlined plans to do so, after saying that it prevented the deportation of dangerous foreign criminals and terrorists.
A government source told The Telegraph: “A clean break [from the ECHR] is by far the best option and, if we put it in the manifesto, even those Tory MPs who are squeamish about the idea will have to get behind it.
“A manifesto pledge also means the Lords will have to let it through eventually. All the signs are that the Prime Minister is up for this.
However sources have reported that the issue would be unlikely to dominate the government’s agenda for the time being, with Brexit negotiations taking centre stage.
“We have a few other things on our plate at the moment,” Attorney General Jeremy Wright recently told MPs, according to the newspaper. He added: “I think we will have to resolve those before we can resolve the matter.”
May made no secret of her distaste for the ECHR during her time as home secretary between 2010 and 2016, after the Convention continually frustrated her attempts to extradite the hate preacher Abu Qatada.