Europe’s human rights laws pose a ‘real moral danger’ to democracy, says James Cleverly

• Human rights chief Michael O’Flaherty has warned about the Rwanda policy

European human rights laws pose a ‘real moral hazard’ to democracy if they disrupt border control measures, James Cleverly warned last night.

In his strongest criticism yet of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Home Secretary suggested legal attempts to block immigration measures had been ‘perverse’.

He added that the government’s Rwanda plan had faced “judicial activism.”

“We have seen criticism of this plan and decisions about this plan that, from the British government’s point of view, are not in line with reality,” Mr Cleverly said at a lecture to a Rome-based think tank.

“We’ve seen a great amount of judicial activism. It is very important that post-war institutions – which we greatly value – evolve and adapt to modern situations.

‘There is a real moral hazard in telling a national government that it cannot manage its own borders, or make decisions about who lives in the country and who does not. Because that undermines the integrity of the democratic process.’

Yesterday, a European human rights watchdog warned against the deportation of migrants to Rwanda. Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, said the policy denies people the right to have their asylum claims examined and limits the powers of judges.

A spokesperson for Number 10 said: ‘Parliament has passed the legislation and it will receive royal assent shortly.’