'We must be able to chuck out people who threaten our country': Cameron reveals Britain could leave human rights convention

Prime Minister reveals frustrations at interference from foreign courts

Cutting ties with Strasbourg the only way to keep Britain safe, PM says

ECHR blamed for delaying deportation of Qatada and giving prisoners vote



Britain could pull out of the controversial European Convention on Human Rights which stops dangerous terrorists from being ‘chucked out’ of the UK, David Cameron said today.

For the first time the Prime Minister revealed he was ready to end the right of foreign courts to interfere with British justice.

He said cutting ties with the Strasbroug courts could be the only way to ensure a future Conservative government can keep the people of Britain safe.

Threat: David Cameron said he would do whatever it takes to keep Britain safe, including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. He is pictured on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show with US band Haim

Controversial: Britain may pull away from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg

I BACK BAN ON RELIGIOUS VEILS IN SOME AREAS, SAYS CAMERON Schools, courthouses and immigration centres should be free to ban religious veils, David Cameron said. The Prime Minister said he did not believe there should be a general ban on wearing the niqab - which conceals the whole face - in the streets.

But he made clear he was 'happy' to look at the issue of whether the state needed to do more to back up institutions which choose to implement a ban. Mr Cameron told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'We are a free country and people should be free to wear whatever clothes they like in public or in private.

'But we should support those institutions that need to put in place rules so that those institutions can work properly.

'So for instance in a school, if they want that particular dress code, I believe the Government should back them. The same for courts, the same for immigration.

'I think we should back those institutions that want to have sensible policies that actually have a particular purpose.'

The European Convention has been responsible for deeply controversial decisions including repeatedly blocking the deportation of radical cleric Abu Qatada and insisting offenders in British prisons should have the right to vote.

Home Secretary Theresa May and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling have both argued that leaving the ECHR is the only way to give Britain control of its laws, without dangerous criminals and terrorists being able to appeal to European courts.

Mr Cameron said the UK could start by scrapping the Human Rights Act, and replacing it with a Bill of Rights.

But he suggested he was now ready to go further. Asked if he backed Tory MPs who want the Britain to leave the ECHR, Mr Cameron replied: ‘It may be that that is where we end up.’

The Prime Minister said he wanted to ‘think about what is the outcome we want’ rather than focus on conventions the UK remains signed up to.

He told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘As Prime Minister I want to know can I keep our country safe.

‘So for instance are we able to chuck out of our country people who have no right to be here, who threaten our country, I say we should be able to do that.

‘Now, whatever that takes we must deliver that outcome. That’s what I think we have the next 20 months to do and put into our manifesto whatever measures need to be taken so we can get the effect we want which is basically to have greater ability to keep our people safe.

‘There are a range of options. You can write a British Bill of Rights so that when cases go to the European Convention on Human Rights you have a proper margin appreciation.

‘The judges there can say well the British have got their own Bill of Rights, they have made they own decision and we should respect that.

‘That is one possibility. But we have some time now to get this right before the manifesto.’

‘But people should be in no doubt that under a Conservative-only government led by me, there will be the ability to throw out of this country far more rapidly people who threaten us and our way of life.’

Block: The ECHR repeatedly blocked attempts by the UK government to deport hate cleric Abu Qatada

Out: Home Secretary Theresa May finally succeeded in deporting Abu Qatada in July after a decade-long legal battle

The ECHR was set up after the Second World War to prevent torture and human rights abuses. The court was established in 1959, giving complainants direct access to justice at a European level.

But critics say the court has grown out of all proportion, and its judges do not even need to have any judicial experience in their homeland.

In theory, the Council of Europe, a body with 47 member states which oversees the Strasbourg court, could retaliate against Mrs May by expelling Britain. But this has not happened to other countries found guilty of flouting human rights laws in the past.

Opposition to the ECHR in Britain has been fuelled by a series of high-profile cases. The court wants to see tens of thousands of prisoners, including murderers and rapists, being given the vote, regardless of the offence that they have committed.

Its ruling, in defiance of a 100-year ban on votes for prisoners in the UK, came after the ECHR backed a complaint by John Hirst, a convicted axe killer.

I don't regret gay marriage laws but I didn't expect furore, says PM



David Cameron has denied claims that he regretted his decision to put same-sex marriage into law.

A new book about the coalition government has suggested that Mr Cameron had told allies he would not have gone ahead with the reform if he had known how fierce opposition would be from Conservative MPs.

The Prime Minister admitted he was surprised by the level of anger provoked in his own party's ranks by gay marriage, but insisted he was glad to have introduced the change.

Furore: David Cameron admitted he did not predict the public backlash against his plans for same-sex marriages

Mr Cameron was speaking after the publication in the Sunday Telegraph of an excerpt from Matthew d'Ancona's book In It Together, suggesting that Mr Cameron told an ally: 'If I'd known what it was going to be like, I wouldn't have done it.'

The PM told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: 'I don't regret it. Britain is a more equal and fairer country for having done it.

'It's certainly true to say that this is an important change. I don't think I expected quite the furore that there was. It's clearly been very difficult for some people to take on, and I completely understand and respect that.

'I'm not sure perhaps at the beginning we got across to people that this was about marriages that could take place in registry offices, that this was not going to change what happened in church, mosques or synagogues.'