Same old shit... different sauce

"There are other important matters, such as a possible Bill of Rights.... which we shall wish to discuss with all parties." No, not David Cameron with his latest 'New' initiative, but the Conservative Party Manifesto in 1979. It obviously escaped the witch's attention when she got the big job, and we had to wait until 1998 for Labour to introduce the Human Rights Act in order to enshrine some civil liberties into British law. Now Cameron is trying to appear fresh and bold, reheating some stale old commitments, and promising to introduce... a Bill of Rights (maybe...). At the same time Cameron wants to scrap the Human Rights Act, introduced in order to ensure British law was in line with the European Court of Human Rights, but not withdraw from the Convention, so you would still be able to appeal to the ECHR. Serious politics... or a gimmick.... or as they used to say in the Merchant Navy kithchens when the cooks were reheating yesterday's stale grub, "Same old shit, different sauce".