Debates between Virendra Sharma and Dominic Raab during the 2015-2017 Parliament

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Virendra Sharma and Dominic Raab
Tuesday 8th September 2015

(9 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Paul Blomfield Portrait Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)
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9. When he plans to open a consultation on proposals for a British Bill of Rights.

Dominic Raab Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Dominic Raab)
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We will bring forward proposals on a Bill of Rights this autumn. They will be subject to full consultation. The preparation is going well. Given the hon. Gentleman’s excellent work on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, I look forward to engaging seriously with him on the substance.

Virendra Sharma Portrait Mr Sharma
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When the Minister’s predecessor published his plans for reform of the Human Rights Act last October, the right hon. and learned Members for Beaconsfield (Mr Grieve) and for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke) complained that they contained “a number of howlers” and that they were “unworkable” and “bewildering”. Is it not time for the Secretary of State to listen to his esteemed colleagues and to admit that those plans were written on the back of a cigarette packet from the very start?

Dominic Raab Portrait Mr Raab
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, but I have to say that the Human Rights Act was also rushed. There was no period of consultation and it was introduced into Parliament in just six months, which is why it has proved flawed in practice. We will take our time to get the plans right, and we will take on board all the views that have been expressed. We want to restore some balance to our human rights regime, and that is what a Bill of Rights will achieve.