Anti-Brexit author torn apart for suggesting right-wing press is 'damaging' Britain
Andrea Leadsom clashed with author Peter Foster over freedom of speech
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Andrea Leadsom clashed with author Peter Foster over freedom of speech, after Foster said that the "right wing press" is "damaging" the country's constitution as a result of opinions on the European Court of Human Rights.
The author of 'What Went Wrong with Brexit' told an event on the fringes of the Conservative Party Conference that the right wing has launched a "deep and persistent attack on the judiciary", claiming it is "incredibly corrosive".
He hit out at both the right wing media and government ministers for criticising the UK's membership of the ECHR, claiming that they are representative of Government policy.
But Andrea Leadsom, the former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, hit back, saying: "What you're doing is saying it's not reasonable for people to have opinions and, of course, it is actually the exact opposite of that.
WATCH NOW: Suella Braverman suggests UK could leave ECHR
"If people want to have opinions they can.
"I am not aware of cabinet ministers spouting as Government policy any intention whatsoever to consider leaving the ECHR.
"So I think that in itself is very dangerous. Government policy is to remain in the ECHR until you hear otherwise."
She added: "You're putting a head of steam on it because you dont like the opinion you hear in the right wing press.
"And what you have to accept is freedom of speeech. People are allowed to have those opinions, even if you fundamentally disagree - but what is dangerous is you somehow implying that this is Government policy. This is absolutely not government policy."
But Foster reponded: "I didnt say it's Government policy. People can have their opinions.
"Its my opinion that the right wing press is denigrating the judgement of the judiciary and its damaging to this countryus consittuon."
When he suggested that the Government has "no clear policy" on the ECHR, Leadsom said: "The Government's policy on the ECHR is to remain one of the original founding signatories to the ECHR, until you hear otherwise.
"And anything you want to say is simply you saying and implying it because you dont like people to express views that are dissimilar to your own."
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Leadsom said: 'The Government's policy on the ECHR is to remain one of the original founding signatories to the ECHR until you hear otherwise'
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Suella Braverman has been a vocal critic of the ECHR, last week giving a speech in which she suggested the UK could leave the convention.
In her speech, delivered in Washington on Monday, Braverman demanded world leaders rip up the UN Refugee Convention and instead introduce a migration regime "fit for our modern age".
She said: "Seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing."
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