2015 will be the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
The United Kingdom has a long and proud history of protecting the rights of our citizens and in other countries. Since the Human Rights Act came into force, however, the phrase "human rights" has come to symbolise for many a legal culture that seems to favour litigious criminals over the law-abiding majority.
I see this in my work prosecuting criminals.
In 2012, I decided to use my experience in the criminal courts to tackle the complaints that many people have with Labour's Human Rights Act. I co-wrote a discussion paper for Conservative Party members called "A Magna Carta for 2015" in which members were asked whether they supported the introduction of a British Bill of Rights.
The response from Conservative Party members was overwhelming: the paper received more than 200 submissions from policy groups across the country. All of the people participating were volunteers. They had responded to this paper in their spare time, meeting to discuss the paper and give their views. I had the pleasure of addressing some of these meetings. This was a good example of the Conservative Party asking its members for their views, with a view to shaping the manifesto for 2015.
And shape it we did!
I am delighted that the Prime Minister has announced that the Conservative Party manifesto will include a commitment to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a UK Bill of Rights.
It is right that our country, which codified human rights as long ago as 1215, should take back and control the freedoms that we all hold dear.
I am pleased to have played a role in this. A Conservative government will deliver it.