UK on collision course with EU

12.00.00am GMT Mon 27th Jan 2003

Reacting to the Prime Minister's suggestion that the UK would consider walking away from its commitment under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Andrew Duff MEP said: "If the UK were to pull out of the ECHR, it would contradict its EU membership obligations and would set the government on a collision course with its European partners."

Andrew Duff, who leads the Liberals in the constitutional Convention on the Future of Europe, said that the Convention had agreed to make legally binding the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

"The Charter consolidates the very rights that the UK government is now seeking to dilute.

"The ECHR sets out the minimum criteria for membership of the European Union. At this critical time, on the eve of enlargement and on the brink of a possible war, these are the very values that must be reinforced and upheld.

"It would be a very dangerous moment for the government to renege on its international and European commitment to fundamental human rights. It would undermine the EU's progress towards a common asylum and immigration policy, and would further marginalise the UK in the Convention on the Future of Europe."