Farage’s bid to bring forward legislation to leave ECHR blocked by MPs

Nigel Farage’s bid to bring forward legislation for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights has been blocked by MPs.

Members could be heard heckling as the motion was debated in the House of Commons, with one branding the Reform UK leader “Putin’s patsy”.

During his speech, Mr Farage told a group of MPs sat behind him, “children be quiet,” following continuous interventions.

The Reform leader forced a vote on withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) through a 10-minute rule motion on Wednesday.

The vote was not on the legislation itself, but on the principle of bringing forward a Bill.

MPs voted against the motion 96 to 154, majority 58.

Mr Farage told the Commons that leaving the ECHR was the “unfinished business” of Brexit.

He said: “I believe that Brexit cannot be complete all the while we’re subject to a foreign court and frankly, a piece of legislation brought in by the Blair government upon which judges can choose their own political interpretation.

“We are not sovereign all the while we are part of the ECHR, the European Council and its associated court. It’s as simple as that.”

He added: “This Bill intends to restore the power of this Parliament, the power of all of you as MPs to actually be in control of the things that really matter most to all of your voters, whether they supported you or not.

“This Bill intends to return British common law and to bring back some ideas, rather than state-given rights, of birthrights of liberty and freedom.

“These are things that, over centuries, served our country far better than any other nation in the European continent.”

Opposing the Bill, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “If you want to know (Mr Farage)’s intentions for British people’s basic rights and freedoms, just look at Putin’s Russia or Trump’s America.

“That isn’t patriotic, it is deeply un-British, and he should be ashamed.

“Unlike (Mr Farage), I am proud of our country. I love our country. I am proud that Britain helped create the European Convention on Human Rights, championed by Winston Churchill himself.

“The convention protects the very people who need it most, our elderly and most vulnerable, so they may live and grow old with dignity, our children so that those facing horrific abuse have better protection.

“It also upholds our freedom of speech, so that the press and public can criticise those in power without fear, and it protects our peaceful right of protest.

“70 years ago, Britain became the first country to ratify the convention as a leading voice on the global stage for human rights and the rule of law. That is our history, that is who we are, that is Britain at our best.

“And yet (Mr Farage) wants us to forget our history, dump British values, undermine the rule of law and row back on people’s hard-won rights. I say no.”