Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has said an immigration policy that “works for our country” is “consistent with remaining in the European Court of Human Rights”.
When asked about the UK’s membership, he said: “I can go back as far as 2005 and point to speeches that I made that said we always have to put our national interest first, whether that is the need to deport dangerous terrorists, whether it is the need to have an immigration policy that works for our country.
“I believe that is consistent with remaining in the ECHR.
Click here to join our Whatsapp community to be the first to receive politics news from The Express
“But, as I found as prime minister, there are occasions when the ECHR makes judgments, as they did on the issue of prisoner votes, when they said it was absolutely essential that we legislated instantly to give prisoners the vote, and I said I didn’t think that was the case, I think that should be settled by the Houses of Parliament – and the ECHR backed down.
“So that sort of flexibility may well be necessary in the future.”
Mr Cameron was grilled on Brexit and Elgin Marbles during his first monthly question time as Foreign Secretary in the House of Lords.
Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton cannot appear before the House of Commons because he is not an elected MP, which has fuelled concerns about democratic accountability.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell will deputise for him in the Commons, while he will answer questions in the upper chamber each month.
A revamped deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, which has faced fierce criticism from unionist politicians, was “a superb negotiation”, Lord Cameron said.
Responding to a question by Baroness Hoey, the Cabinet minister said: “I had nothing to do with negotiating the Windsor Framework so I can say this with true meaning – I think it was a superb negotiation.
“The EU said it would never reopen the Withdrawal Agreement and it did. They never, and I can say this with real feeling, give an emergency brake and yet they did when it came to Stormont, and they never really make exceptions for single market access for non-single market countries and yet they have.
“I absolutely understand her concerns and worries about it but I think it was a good negotiation. I think it can fulfil the seven tests that the Democratic Unionists have put forward and I know the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is working extremely hard to try and put the institutions back together again.”
Lord Cameron was made a life peer last month to allow him to serve in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet after he resigned as an MP in 2016.
The former Tory leader previously sat in the Commons for 15 years, including five years as leader of the opposition and six years as prime minister.
He appeared to stumble over how to address people in the House of Lords after his absence from frontline politics.
Addressing the Leader of the Opposition in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon, he said: “I thank the honourable lady for what she said, the honourable lady for what she – noble lady, sorry… I’ll get there eventually!”
