Just as Brexit began with a few harmless-looking chips at what looked like an impregnable concrete wall, something similar may be happening with Britain’s attachment to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The latest episode was yesterday’s ten-minute rule bill from the Tory MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Jonathan Gullis. His Asylum Seekers (Removal to Safe Countries) Bill was nothing if not direct. Put bluntly, his plan would seek to avoid a repeat of the Rwanda debacle earlier this year by allowing asylum seekers to be flown to Africa, despite any orders from Strasbourg to the contrary.
Like nearly all other ten-minute rule bills, everyone accepted this one was entirely quixotic. The debate on it lasted a mere 15 minutes, with much huffing and puffing from Gullis and from the opposition, before it was promptly voted down 188-69. It won’t be given government support or Parliamentary time. It is now therefore an ex-bill.
The PM’s most foolish response to this would be to say the ECHR is safe in Tory hands
Nevertheless, like a number of such bills, it was also a rather important straw in the wind.
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