TORY plans to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) would remove an essential safety net and “beggar belief,” Amnesty said yesterday. 

Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly been presented with proposals on human-rights law this week, drawn up by a working group of Conservative lawyers, suggesting that the plan for an alternative British bill of rights could force changes in the way the ECHR operates.

But the lawyers also acknowledge that the changes could lead to Britain being expelled from the 47-member Council of Europe, which upholds human rights across the continent.