Cameron delays plan to repeal Human Rights Act

Britain's prime minister David Cameron has pulled back from plans to quickly repeal the Human Rights Act and to limit the jurisdiction in the United Kingdom of the European Court of Human Rights.

Proposals are to be published but no attempt will be made to draft legislation until a wide consultation has taken place, Mr Cameron’s government said.

He insisted – despite evidence to the contrary – that this did not amount to his first major backtrack following his election victory earlier this month.

"Be in no doubt: we will be introducing legislation and legislating on this issue because I want these decisions made by British judges in British courts, not in Strasbourg," Mr Cameron told the House of Commons after Queen Elizabeth delivered his legislative plans during the queen's speech in the House of Lords.

Several senior Tory backbenchers, led by one-time leadership candidate David Davis, have objected to the proposed changes, while the House of Lords – where Mr Cameron does not enjoy a majority – had also threatened rebellion

Leading critic

The flaws in the plans to repeal the Human Rights Act were quickly identified by a leading critic, former attorney general Dominic Grieve, given that Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales enjoy devolved control over human rights legislation.

In addition, an attempt to make judgments from the Strasbourg court advisory, rather than binding on the British government, threatened to raise questions over the UK's European Union membership.

Mr Grieve, who has been frequently vocal on the subject since he was demoted, told Sky News: “For all those reasons, I’m really pleased that the government has, I think, taken those points on board and is going to do some more consultation.”

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman said it was the first time she had seen a government's legislative plans "start unravelling before her majesty has even spoken", adding the government was "clearly still working on the back of that envelope".

Separately, Mr Cameron has formally committed the government to having a European Union membership referendum by the end of 2017, although the legislation providing for the referendum could take six months to get through parliament.

“We have seen treaty after treaty pass through this house,” he told MPs. “The EU has changed a great deal since 1975 and it is time the British people once again had their say. We have a very clear strategy of renegotiation, reform and referendum.”

His one-time Cabinet colleague Nick Clegg, who resigned as Liberal Democrat leader in the wake of his party's election meltdown, warned that Conservative post-election swagger about its chances of securing a new deal from the EU could prove over-confident

“Having witnessed two referenda spin off in entirely unpredicted directions – [the Scottish independence referendum and one to change the UK’s voting system] – in recent years, I would strongly counsel against any complacency,” he said.

However, Mr Cameron has learned one lesson from the Scottish campaign, since he is to ensure that the wording of the question to be put to voters will ask them to answer Yes to the reforms he hopes to get from the rest of the EU.

Proportional representation

Mr Clegg said the Liberals had eight seats in the Commons when they would have had 51 under proportional representation.

“I learned the hard way of the difficulties of reforming our creaking political system. But surely no one needs any more evidence that our British constitution is well past its sell-by date?”

A major battle also lies ahead about Mr Cameron's plans to ensure that only English MPs, or English and Welsh MPs, can vote on legislation covering the two countries, excluding 59 Scottish MPs. The prime minister plans to do it by changing the Commons' standing order, although speaker John Bercow signalled his concerns when he told former Scottish Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond that he would be investigating the changes and the method.