Ruth Davidson distances herself from Theresa May over call to leave European human rights convention

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has distanced herself from calls by the Home Secretary to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Theresa May last week said Britain should leave the ECHR regardless of next month’s European Union referendum result.

May claimed the treaty “can bind the hands of parliament, adds nothing to our prosperity [and] makes us less secure by preventing the deportation of dangerous foreign nationals”.

RELATED CONTENT

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve warns human rights reform risks 'new areas of political discord'

Nicola Sturgeon issues human rights warning

Jim Wallace: Tory pledge on Human Rights Act 'could plunge this country into a legal and constitutional crisis'

However, Davidson, who was speaking to PinkNews, said: “I take a slightly different view from Theresa May – I think we should recognise that the ECHR was in large part drafted by people from Britain, and it’s British values that are enshrined there.

“In terms of a Scottish context, the ECHR is written into the original Scotland Act, so it would be up to the Scottish Parliament to decide whether we changed the basis of that. “There’s nothing at a UK-wide level that would be able to change that without Holyrood’s consent. I think it’s a little bit more complicated than Theresa May is trying to push out there.”

The Conservatives pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights in their 2015 Westminster election manifesto, though there was no legislation set out in the first Queen's Speech. The HRA incorporates the protections in the European Convention into UK law.

A Conservative Party paper published in October 2014 suggested judgments to emerge from the European Court of Human Rights would be treated as “advisory” instead of binding in UK law. The paper also raised the prospect of withdrawal from the Convention if the UK Parliament failed to secure the right to veto judgments from the Strasbourg court.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously warned it is “inconceivable” that Holyrood would grant legislative consent for the Human Rights Act (HRA) to be repealed or amended.