Human rights 'are focus for Tory dissent'

David Cameron was today accused of using the furore surrounding human rights laws as a tool to deal with backbench anger.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said the Prime Minister "seems more interested in party management than the public interest" and was ducking responsible debate.

Writing for the Standard, Mr Khan said ministers had not taken a "reasoned or consistent approach" after rulings on prisoners' votes - which came from Europe - and the position of sex offenders on the register, which came from the UK Supreme Court. The Government is also looking at creating a British Bill of Rights to guarantee that Parliament, not the courts, makes laws.

Mr Khan said Tories "cynically" used human rights laws as a "proxy to express their dissent over Europe, their dislike of coalition government and their dissatisfaction with the way things are going so far".