UK plans to rewrite human rights law; critics cry foul

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The British government has unveiled plans for a Bill of Rights it says will strengthen free speech and the power of Parliament. Critics argue it will rip up human rights protections for ordinary people. The government published the bill on Wednesday, days after courts in the U.K. and Europe, on human rights grounds, stopped Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration deporting people seeking asylum in Britain to Rwanda. If approved by Parliament, the legislation will raise the bar for bringing human rights legal claims. It would also give British courts the power to ignore rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. Rights groups said the move would undermine the public’s ability to hold the powerful to account.