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Adjournment debate on Monday, 19 February 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Vera Baird.

Human Rights

Debate on a motion for the adjournment on human rights.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
457 c68-124 
Session
2006-07
Department
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Human Rights Act 1998
Monday, 9 November 1998
Public acts
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 457 c82 (Link to this contribution) Order. I must remind the House that Mr. Speaker has placed a 12-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches ...
Vera Baird | 457 c68 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House do now adjourn. Fundamental rights have been recognised throughout o...
Show all contributions (113)
Richard Shepherd | 457 c68 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that exercise in history, but it is not entirely accurate. The hon. and learned La...
Vera Baird | 457 c68-9 (Link to this contribution) Thanks for that parallel history lesson. The convention provided substantive protection for individ...
William Cash | 457 c69 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Lady refers to conflict between the principles set out in the Human Rights Act....
Lord Bellingham | 457 c76 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is spot on. It is not just a question of applying the law but of the impact of the Ac...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c77 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bellingham | 457 c76 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is spot on, as he is on so many occasions. Our database is the biggest in the wor...
Julian Lewis | 457 c76 (Link to this contribution) Does that not illustrate the point that I was trying to make earlier? It is all well and good for Go...
David Heath | 457 c75 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman made that point, because many of us are enormously concerned that ...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c78 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. He is extremely knowledgeable. I have seen the report and I wil...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c78 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to conflate two different issues, the Chahal case and the Afghan hijackers....
Lord Bellingham | 457 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to hear that. It is good news, but the hon. Gentleman would no doubt accept that it will t...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c77 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The issue is one that we have just explored in correspondence w...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c77 (Link to this contribution) Of course I will give way to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Vera Baird | 457 c69-70 (Link to this contribution) But the hon. Gentleman knows that those rights existed before the mechanism, and the mechanism is an...
Mike Hancock | 457 c70 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister clarify the meaning of paragraph 50 of the Government response to the report, whic...
Vera Baird | 457 c70 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I shall come to that in due course; it is one of the themes o...
John Bercow | 457 c70 (Link to this contribution) Over-zealous interpretation of the Act does not, of course, invalidate its contents. I believe that ...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) First, I ought to declare my interest as a qualified barrister who practised for about 10 years. I w...
Vera Baird | 457 c72-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, as far as I am concerned, that is an appropriate analysis of how we should approach the issue. ...
Julian Lewis | 457 c71 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. and learned Lady for being so generous in giving way. She has given a number of exa...
Vera Baird | 457 c70 (Link to this contribution) Although I cannot call the relevant section to mind, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is correct. T...
Lord Beith | 457 c72 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. and learned Lady referred to a false dichotomy, because I am worried by some...
Vera Baird | 457 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) There was a heady mixture—[Interruption.] Yes, a dolly mixture of cases. It is difficult to unravel ...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend.
Vera Baird | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bellingham | 457 c82;457 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) No, I am bringing my remarks to a conclusion. Why not help to find solutions to the gun crime crisis...
William Cash | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there is absolutely nothing curious or strange about the idea that we...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Bill of Rights would re-invoke the doctrine of parliamentary...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c82 (Link to this contribution) My point is that those people are victims. They have rights as well. Surely we should do two things:...
Speaker | 457 c82 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think the hon. Gentleman is going a little bit wide of the matter before the House.
William Cash | 457 c78 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that despite the weasel words that we have heard with respect to the hijac...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c78 (Link to this contribution) There is no question about that. In our judgment, it was the wrong decision, but even if the Home Se...
David Heath | 457 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being patient. I want to understand his position. If he accepts that the judgm...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c79 (Link to this contribution) I take on board the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. Our view, and that of my colleague, the lea...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c79 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bellingham | 457 c80-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not necessarily suggesting that we withdraw from the convention, because if we can make the Bil...
Lord Beith | 457 c80 (Link to this contribution) Could the hon. Gentleman explain how that would change the situation? The omission of a right from t...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) The Bill of Rights would be very simple. It would define those core values that give us identity as ...
Vera Baird | 457 c81 (Link to this contribution) What is going to be in the Bill of Rights?
Julian Lewis | 457 c89 (Link to this contribution) The problem that the hon. Gentleman fails to address is that when legislation on the statute book is...
William Cash | 457 c91 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
David Heath | 457 c91 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; unfortunately, that is often a refuge for the incompetent....
Lord Beith | 457 c91 (Link to this contribution) I want to draw my hon. Friend’s attention to what has happened under this legislation, as under heal...
David Heath | 457 c90 (Link to this contribution) I agree. That has been brought to my attention and the more it is promulgated the more understanding...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c90 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with the hon. Gentleman’s last point, other than that it would probably bog down t...
David Heath | 457 c90 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman might have an advantage over me, but I did not see that any senior officer was qu...
Lord Bellingham | 457 c90 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking about half-witted people, but the chief superintendent in charge of th...
David Heath | 457 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) It is patently not a failure of the legislation because the provisions have been in force since 1950...
David Heath | 457 c91 (Link to this contribution) I will do so, but I will then move on because the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk raised some imp...
Richard Shepherd | 457 c86 (Link to this contribution) In all this, the hon. Gentleman has not introduced any democratic balance. He is talking about socia...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c83-6 (Link to this contribution) If we were to try to produce a piece of legislation to deal with each and every one of those cases, ...
David Heath | 457 c87 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. I would have said th...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c87 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is entirely right, but there are basic fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Act....
Julian Lewis | 457 c83 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says very assuredly that action under the Human Rights Act prevented or stopped t...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) As the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, I welcome this long overdue debate. I hope t...
William Cash | 457 c83 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman tell us which law he is referring to that could not be covered by legislatio...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c83 (Link to this contribution) Trial by media does not create rights that people can go to court to enforce, and that is exactly wh...
William Cash | 457 c88 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman was party to the proposal in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill relati...
David Heath | 457 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) I think that it is important that we legislate in the House to ensure the rights of the citizen. I d...
Vera Baird | 457 c124 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should wait for it. The Bill of Rights was referred to as"““so woolly it would ma...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c119 (Link to this contribution) Ultimately, the statement to which my hon. and learned Friend refers was self-serving. Only by check...
Vera Baird | 457 c119 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give way to my hon. Friend, but I assure him that I can add nothing to what Baroness S...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c122 (Link to this contribution) I agree that it is important to get involved at a much earlier stage and we are, in fact, trying to ...
Vera Baird | 457 c122 (Link to this contribution) I could not argue against my hon. Friend because I argued with him when I was on the Joint Committee...
Richard Shepherd | 457 c120 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that is a genuine misunderstanding of the position I was adopting. In fact, I said that I ...
Vera Baird | 457 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) I admire the way in which the hon. Gentleman engages so relentlessly and comprehensively with these ...
Julian Lewis | 457 c124 (Link to this contribution) The Minister agrees with the media when it suits her to do so.
David Heath | 457 c122 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the Minister has accepted the logic of the suggestion made by the hon. Member for ...
Vera Baird | 457 c122-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point. That leads me to the hon. Member for North-West Nor...
Simon Hughes | 457 c114-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I indicated to Mr. Speaker that I hoped that I might...
Simon Hughes | 457 c117-8 (Link to this contribution) We did, but they could not be invoked fully and finally and adjudicated until one had exhausted the ...
Vera Baird | 457 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) It has been an interesting debate, although some of the contributions have convinced me that we set ...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c119 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. and learned Friend give way?
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 457 c115 (Link to this contribution) I take on board that the hon. Gentleman is giving us an historical lesson about the background to th...
Simon Hughes | 457 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) I have apologised for not being present for the opening speeches of the debate, but I have been pres...
William Cash | 457 c116 (Link to this contribution) How can it be civilising for difficulties to be put in the way of the police in searching children i...
Simon Hughes | 457 c116-7 (Link to this contribution) It is not civilising for difficulties to be put in the way of the police. I live in a borough where,...
Vera Baird | 457 c104 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly puzzled about what the hon. Gentleman means. If I buy my newspaper from WH Smith with ...
Douglas Carswell | 457 c111-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. That matter was not high up in my mind, but I thank him for his ...
William Cash | 457 c111 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree, as regards the accumulation of these principles into European law through...
Douglas Carswell | 457 c109-10 (Link to this contribution) It is privilege to follow my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous), who...
Vera Baird | 457 c110 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman moves away from the topic of the Afghan hijackers, my hon. Friend the Memb...
William Cash | 457 c107 (Link to this contribution) With specific reference to the Catholic adoption agencies, I endorse my hon. Friend’s principal poin...
Andrew Selous | 457 c107-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a fair point. I am concerned about the hierarchy of rights. The history of this...
Mike Hancock | 457 c104-6 (Link to this contribution) The Minister was right to identify her example as frivolous. It was also hopelessly off the point th...
Andrew Selous | 457 c106-7 (Link to this contribution) We have concentrated fairly largely on the human rights aspect of our debate on values, rights and r...
Mike Hancock | 457 c100 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman is coming to this, but can he explain for the benefit of the House how th...
William Cash | 457 c98-9 (Link to this contribution) I come to the debate on a slightly historical note. All the talk about Magna Carta in speeches made ...
William Cash | 457 c100 (Link to this contribution) That is an absolutely vital point. It is up to the House of Commons and Parliament as a whole to ens...
Simon Hughes | 457 c100 (Link to this contribution) I was going to ask the hon. Gentleman how the system he envisages will protect an individual when bo...
William Cash | 457 c100 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) signed my amendment so I do not kn...
Mike Hancock | 457 c102 (Link to this contribution) I shall first address some comments to the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham), who ...
William Cash | 457 c100-2 (Link to this contribution) I dealt with that very question with the then Home Secretary and I think that it perhaps played some...
Mike Hancock | 457 c102-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is either deliberately missing the point or wants to mislead the House in believi...
William Cash | 457 c102 (Link to this contribution) I did answer the hon. Gentleman right at the very end, with a simple proposition about freedom of ch...
Andrew Dismore | 457 c92 (Link to this contribution) The Conservative Front-Bench spokesman raised the issues of the margin of appreciation and of propor...
David Heath | 457 c91-2 (Link to this contribution) The alternative is that, instead of having 3,000 new offences, we will multiply that by a factor of ...
Nia Griffith | 457 c95-6 (Link to this contribution) I see a fundamental problem with a charitable religious organisation doing something with Government...
Nia Griffith | 457 c93-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I shall not repeat the many exc...
David Heath | 457 c92-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point, which I was about to come to. What would...
Richard Shepherd | 457 c97-8 (Link to this contribution) Of course it was, because under domestic law, and before the embracement of the European convention ...
Simon Hughes | 457 c97 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the courts always do that in relation to domestic legislation? Ov...
Richard Shepherd | 457 c96-7 (Link to this contribution) Listening to the debate so far, one wonders why there was a need for it. The confidence of the Gover...
Jonathan Shaw | 457 c124 (Link to this contribution) I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
Lord Bellingham | 457 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) I shall carry on a little longer. The case of the paedophile at the gym occurred towards the end of...
Julian Lewis | 457 c112-4 (Link to this contribution) Although I agree with a great deal of the robust analysis put forward by my hon. Friend the Member f...
Douglas Carswell | 457 c110-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely not. I am simply pointing out that the decision was made under the ECHR. I very much hope...
William Cash | 457 c91 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that last remark, but I wish to ask the hon. Gentleman to answer the following simple q...
William Cash | 457 c95 (Link to this contribution) The issue of Catholic adoption agencies raises the question of the provision of public services in t...
Vera Baird | 457 c119-20 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s logic, but as I said, I cannot take the matter further. The hon. Memb...
Subjects
Disclosure of information Civil liberties Data protection Courts Bill of Rights Human rights European Convention on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights National security Protection Treaties United Nations Religious freedom
Legislation
Human Rights Act 1998
Link
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