The democratic deficit at the heart of the Human Rights Act

Dominic Grieve was a worthy attorney-general whose career was helped by this magazine: nine years ago, he was named Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year, beneath the nose of David Cameron, then nearing the end of his successful campaign for the Conservative leadership. But Grieve’s remarks this week, in which he suggested that the Prime Minister would be seen to be as bad as Putin if he pursues proposals to give Parliament ultimate authority over laws in this country, underline why his position as a member of the government had become untenable.

One of the few redeeming features of David Cameron’s reshuffle is that it added a certain clarity to our position with the European Court of Human Rights. Its judges have become activists, trying to tell democratic governments (for example) that prisoners should have the vote. Only recently has the court tried to assert itself in this way, in defiance of the basic idea of a country deciding its own laws.