May’s plan to withdraw from ECHR needs Holyrood consent, say SNP
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Theresa May’s plan to fight the 2020 election on plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights would require the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the SNP has said.The Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister hopes to put ECHR withdrawal at the heart of a post-Brexit election to avoid a “huge row” in Parliament over the issue.It is the latest stage of the long-running plans to replace existing human rights protections with a “UK Bill of Rights”.
SNP justice spokeswoman Joanna Cherry QC MP (pictured) said: “The Tories have a reckless ideological obsession with attacking human rights - but their attempts to leave the ECHR and draw up a so-called ‘British Bill of Rights’ have been utterly shambolic so far.
“These latest plans are merely an attempt to kick the issue into the long grass while throwing some red meat to Theresa May’s baying backbenchers.”
She added: “Human rights are a devolved matter and any plans to take Scotland out of the ECHR would require the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
“Given the strong cross-party support for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act in both the parliament and across Scottish civil society consent would not be forthcoming and thus any attempt to repeal existing rights would be likely to provoke a constitutional crisis.”
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