The Equality and Human Rights Commission , chaired by Baroness Onora O'Neill ( above ) , said the Human Rights Act has 'proved its value ' Tory MPs reacted angrily last night after a supposedly impartial £19million-a-year taxpayer-funded quango tore into the party ’ s plans to reform human rights law . Despite there being under two months to the election , the Equality and Human Rights Commission piled into the political debate over the future of Labour ’ s Human Rights Act . In a statement posted on the commission ’ s website , backed by a letter to MPs , it claimed that changes ‘ to human rights laws that would water down the protections we all enjoy , would be “ regressive ” and undermine Britain ’ s reputation as a global leader that can challenge human rights abuses abroad ’ . The quango also declared the Act a success , saying it had ‘ consistently proved its value ’ . This is despite the way it has been repeatedly used by foreign criminals and terrorists to avoid deportation . The Tories have a manifesto commitment to scrap the Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights . Justice Secretary Chris Grayling also plans to give Britain ’ s Supreme Court the final say over human rights cases – not the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg . But senior Conservative Party figures view the commission ’ s intervention as a nakedly political act . As a quango , in receipt of £18.7million of public money last year , it is supposed to remain outside the political fray . Government sources said it had not even got its facts right . In the letter to MPs , it said : ‘ UK courts do not have to follow the judgements of the Strasbourg court . Our courts only need to take account of such judgements ’ . But a senior government source said : ‘ For a start , it is plain wrong to claim that our courts are not bound by decisions made by ECHR in Strasbourg . They are . ‘ This taxpayer-funded quango of Labour ’ s creation is deliberately trying to play politics on the eve of an election. ’ Tory MP Michael Ellis , part of the home affairs select committee , said : ‘ This is grossly improper so close to an election from a quango which receives millions of pounds of taxpayers ’ money . Tory MPs blasted the online statement , calling it a nakedly political act , which had got its facts wrong . The post said British courts were not bound by the ECHR ( pictured ) , when in fact they are . 'This country was protecting human rights when many members of the EU were under dictatorships and well before Labour ’ s Human Rights Act , which has only served to create extra tiers of bureaucracy , legal costs , delays and an imbalance of justice. ’ Fellow Tory MP Dominic Raab said : ‘ The commission ’ s intervention shows just how politicised this self-serving quango has become . ‘ Their blanket opposition to any re-balancing of our skewed human rights law ignores the concerns expressed by countless senior UK judges , and displays an arrogant contempt for the basic principle of democratic accountability we ’ ve lost in this area. ’ The commission was established by Labour in 2006 ‘ to protect and promote equality and human rights in Great Britain ’ . In 2011 , Home Secretary Theresa May decided to scale back its powers drastically after a report found the commission had ‘ struggled ’ to do its job , while providing low-quality work and poor value for money . EHRC chief executive Mark Hammond said : ‘ We are at a crossroads for human rights . One path risks undermining and diminishing our influence and status as a global leader in human rights and civil liberties . ‘ The other will safeguard our reputation for fairness and moral authority when confronting human rights abuses abroad . ’
Tories provoked fury from Equality and Human Rights Commission . Backed Human Rights Act despite criminals using it to avoid deportation . Conservatives attacked quango for 'deliberately trying to play politics '