LIZ TRUSS WRONG TO CALL FOR ABOLITION OF SUPREME COURT, SAYS JUSTICE MINISTER

FORMER Prime Minister Liz Truss is wrong to claim that the Supreme Court needs to be abolished, according to Justice Minister Laura Farris.

She told GB News: “I’ve got to say, I don’t agree actually. I think that we have a healthy democracy, a pluralistic democracy.

“And I think that institutions like the Supreme Court are vital, actually. And it’s always been the case that…our judiciary is admired the world over.”

Asked about claims that the Prime Minister lacks the political will to pull out of the ECHR, she said: “I don’t agree with that. I think some of the focus on the European Court of Human Rights has been in relation to the Rwanda scheme.

“I think you will know that we’re getting the legislation through the house and we hope to have it on the statute books by the end of this week.

“But really, the issues with that come really substantially from things like the Refugee Convention rather than the European Convention on Human Rights.

“The Prime Minister said that he’s confident that that legislation complies with all our international obligations.

“But in extremis, if it doesn’t, he will not allow a foreign court to block planes from taking off and I think he’s been crystal clear on that.”

Asked about the Government’s announcement about criminalising sexually explicit deepfake images, during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she said Parliamentarians have been victims.

Farris said: “I know a number of politicians in Westminster from all parties have been made aware that they’ve been victims of this.

“But I just want to say one thing, we’re not just doing it because it’s affected celebrities. We know that it affects normal people too.

“And one of the analogies actually that we’ve been drawing, is that it is an offence in this country to create an explosive device even if you’re doing so privately in your kitchen.

“But we do it because if it falls into the wrong hands, or if motive changes, it could cause catastrophic harm.

“And in a psychological sense, creating a grossly offensive explicit video, where you’re using a real person’s face and you’re superimposing that and you’re making it look incredibly realistic, can cause actually catastrophic psychological harm.”