Cat scrap over rights laws

The claws came out this week when Home Secretary Theresa May once again argued for the scrapping of the Human Rights Act.

And while her cat gaff left tabloid headline writers across the land tapping at their keyboards with glee, they barely scratched the surface of the debate on this issue.

In Mrs May’s view the use of Article 8 – the right to family life – has been used to prevent the Government from deporting illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists.

So she wants to scrap the Act altogether and replace it with a UK Bill of Rights.

For a start she was wrong about the case of the Bolivian and his cat.

But even if she had been right, why throw the moggie out with the bathwater? Wouldn’t it be better to amend the Act or clarify how it should be applied rather than get rid of this country’s most important piece of human rights legislation?

Take a recent story of the police van that drove hundreds of miles so a prisoner wouldn’t have to walk a few yards in handcuffs.

Apparently they were worried it would contravene his human rights.

But rather than being treated as a genuine claim this would most likely have been laughed out of court.

It’s an example of how badly the law can be misinterpreted and misunderstood.

The Human Rights Act is there to protect us from real violations, and it’s used to positive affect hundreds of times a year.

We don’t condone torture, we believe passionately about freedom of protest, expression and to a fair trial.

These rights are something to be proud of.

And scrapping it would almost certainly weaken our call for democracy in countries like Libya and Egypt.

Charity Liberty has called for the Government to do more to educate people about their human rights.

It recently commissioned a poll that said just 9% of respondents remembered ever seeing any information from the Government on the Act.

So while a new Bill of Rights may seem on the face of it to be a good idea, really we should be doing more to help people understand the law we already have.

Because just like a new kitten that’s cute and playful when you first take it home, the Bill will inevitably end up just like the old tabby you traded it in for.