Commenting on The Telegraph’s story that Theresa May will put plans to pull out of the ECHR at the heart of her 2020 general election campaign, Ryan Shorthouse, Director of the liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue said: 

"When campaigning to become Leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May promised Tory MPs that she would abandon her plans to withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights. She should keep that promise.

"The European Convention is rooted in English Common Law, was authored by a Conservative politician, and championed by a Conservative Prime Minister. We should be proud of it. The European Court of Human Rights has strengthened human rights in more oppressive countries than Britain, such as the rights of illegitimate children, the right of fair trial, and the rights of gay and lesbian people.

"Now, more than ever, we need Britain to be a global leader in defending international institutions and rules established after the Second World War to maximise freedom, peace and prosperity across the world."