Public has little interest in scrapping Human Rights Act, poll shows

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was established by the ECHR Credit: Reuters

The British public appears to have little interest in scrapping the Human Rights Act, according to figures from a new poll.

Just one in ten of those surveyed said they thought the idea, which has for years been a Conservative proposal, should in the top three priorities for the government.

The figures in the ComRes survey, commissioned by Amnesty International, come as ministers prepare to publish proposals to scrap the Act in favour of a new British bill of rights.

The 1998 Act, introduced by Labour, implements the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), in UK law.

Kate Allen, Amnesty UK director, said the survey showed the government should abandon its "ill-advised" plans to repeal the Human Rights Act because there is "simply no appetite" for it.

The survey revealed that 46% of Britons would not want to remove any of the rights currently in the Act, although a sizeable minority (16%) said they did not think the death penalty should be outlawed in the new bill.

There has been speculation over whether the new bill would grant UK citizens greater protection than foreigners.

But the ComRes poll found that 78% of Britons think that rights, laws and protections must apply to everyone equally in order to be effective.

Further, 67% agreed that governments should not be able to choose which rights they enforce.