Mr. Les Allamby:

My answer to that is a qualified "Yes". At one stage the UK Government talked about the possibly leaving the Council of Europe but all of that has now been cleared. We have a Human Rights Act, which is the basis on which the convention has been incorporated into UK domestic law. It is quite clear that the UK Government's commitment to the Human Rights Act will be retained right up to leaving the EU. There are no plans to reform or repeal it. It has made it very clear that once it leaves the EU, it will look again at the issue. Therefore, the protections one has in domestic law, based on the convention - and we know that because of the history of the island of Ireland and having to go to Strasbourg in the absence of domestically incorporating the law - make a difference. There are areas of EU law that go beyond the convention. The convention is a very important bulwark but it is not the only one.