Repatriate British justice

If an inquiry were to be launched into the excesses of the dentistry profession, it would not be conducted by a body made up entirely of dentists. You wouldn’t put a team of journalists in charge of the Leveson inquiry. Why, then, was Nick Clegg allowed to appoint a commission on a bill of rights — the body charged with reviewing Britain’s membership of the European Court of Human Rights — made up almost entirely of lawyers, and human rights lawyers at that? Was there ever any doubt that lawyers would argue for more complexity, and a system which protects their power?

Almost every day in government, ministers are told they cannot make decisions because something or other is illegal under European law. It’s become the standard gambit, used to end discussions. Votes for prisoners? This is no longer a subject on which British people have a right to a discussion.