Cameron in push for ECHR reform

David Cameron will launch a drive to reform the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today, insisting it should meddle less in British affairs.

The Prime Minister is to rebuke the body for “undermining its own reputation” by “going over national decisions”.

The intervention, in a speech to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, comes after the courtblocked the deportation of radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan last week.

Mr Cameron will stress that human rights is a cause that “runs deep in the British heart and long in British history”. He will point to the country’s stand against repression in Libya, Egypt and Syria as recent examples.

However, the ECHR now serves 800 million people in 47 countries, and has a backlog of more than 150,000 cases.

He will say: “The court should be free to deal with the most serious violations of human rights. It should not be swamped with an endless backlog of cases.”