Why we must be allowed to kick out terrorists, by Tory MP for Dover and Deal CHARLIE ELPHIKE

Britain needs to restore trust in the human rights ideal.

 We should sweep away the discredited Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.

A key element would be to ensure our freedoms are under the control of the UK Supreme Court and not European judges. It’s wrong for Strasbourg to decide these things. British judges in British courts should have the final say on laws passed by Parliament. 

Moreover, this is what the British people want – three out of four people tell pollsters the Human Rights Act is a charter for criminals and the undeserving.

Charles Elphike questions why radical cleric Abu Qatada and Aso Mohammed Ibrahim can stay in the UK

The fact that the British people feel so strongly is not surprising when you look at the ham-fisted judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Too often the Strasbourg judges create more problems than they solve.

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Under the current laws, villains and terrorists too often appear to have the upper hand.

 Remember all that trouble about throwing out Abu Qatada? And the case of Aso Mohammed Ibrahim? The Iraqi knocked down and killed 12-year-old Amy Houston with his car and yet was allowed to remain in the UK.

 Immigration judges ruled that sending him home would breach his right to a ‘private and family life’. What about the family life of little Amy and her family that was so cruelly snatched away? 

We should be able to secure our borders and deport people who commit crimes without delay. Nor should it be so hard to uphold the principle that criminals should lose certain rights – including the right to vote in elections.

There is a real sense among a lot of people that our citizens do not have the protection under our laws that they should have. Many worry that our long-held freedoms have not been sufficiently protected. Fundamental principles such as freedom of speech and of religion are too often under siege.

At the heart of any society lies a basic social contract. A contract where rights are matched by responsibilities. 

You don’t hear enough about that when human rights are discussed.  It always seems to be, ‘I know my rights’. We should hear, ‘I know my responsibilities’ as well. Such a social contract should lie at the heart of a British Bill of Rights  and Responsibilities.

It is because we need to protect our ancient customs, liberties and freedoms that I presented such a Bill to the Commons to replace the Human Rights Act. A new settlement to restore trust and confidence in human rights.

We, the British people, should have the final say on our rights. We should decide on the social contract at the heart of our society, not Europe nor anywhere else.