Clarke says he has never supported Bill of Rightsg in here heading in hereggggg

Kenneth Clarke said yesterday that he had never before seen a need for a British Bill of Rights.

But the Justice Secretary told MPs and peers he had an “open mind” and was waiting for the expert views of the commission that has been set up by David Cameron to consider the issue.

Mr Cameron, who is committed to scrapping the Human Rights Act, launched the commission this year to consider the case for a British Bill of Rights to replace Act, which enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights in UK law.

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Mr Clarke said: “I’ve never been a supporter... I’ve never seen a need for a Bill of Rights myself in the past, but I now genuinely have an open mind.

“I have every respect for the people we’ve asked to advise us... and I wait to see what they will come back and recommend.”

Giving evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Mr Clarke said: “On the face of it, you could have a Bill of Rights which really restated the rights in the convention and was then adhered to by the British courts.

“Once it gets debated, there are people who obviously wish to have different features in the Bill of Rights and use it as a basis for reform of the way in which we implement our obligations.

“But I think there’s no point in anticipating the advice.”

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