Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alex Chalk and Nadia Whittome

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Alex Chalk]

The rule of law is absolutely essential to who we are as a nation. It does mean, on the one hand, that no one should be mightier than the law and we should all be accountable equally before it, but it also means that where there are those who break the law—I pause to note that arriving illegally in the UK has been against the law for decades—there must be consequences. If there are not, the rule of law is brought into disrepute. That would be bad for our country and, indeed, for the international rules-based order.

[Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)]

5. Whether it remains his Department's policy to progress the Bill of Rights Bill.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk)]

I am looking carefully at the full range of the Department’s work before setting out plans in detail.

[Nadia Whittome]

The Human Rights Act 1998 is an essential piece of legislation that protects us all from abuses of power, yet the Bill of Rights Bill proposes to scrap it, weakening human rights protections in UK law and making it harder for people to hold the Government and other public bodies to account. If the Minister will not answer my question about the Bill’s future, can he at least commit to keeping the Human Rights Act on the statute book?

[Alex Chalk]

Human rights are important. I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave a few moments ago.