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David Cameron was accused of wasting a "once in a generation" opportunity to reform the European Court of Human Rights this afternoon.
The charge came as the Prime Minister prepared to deliver a speech in Strasbourg proposing a big cut in the number of cases taken on by the court.
Although Attorney General Dominic Grieve insisted there was an "extremely good" chance of victory, officials admitted any reform would be extremely slow, requiring a unanimous vote by all 47 nations in the Council of Europe.
Mr Cameron's plans have already been attacked by Sir Nicolas Bratza, the British president of the court, as pandering to the "popular press".
Labour said Mr Cameron had left his speech too late. Britain is mid-way through a six-month turn in the chair of the Council of Europe - the first chance to shape the agenda for more than 20 years.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said Mr Cameron was "hectoring" about reform when he should have been building alliances. "He's unwilling or unable to put in the hard graft required to form strategic alliances, and prefers instead to snipe from the sidelines."
Mr Cameron will blame a 150,000-strong backlog of cases on Strasbourg for acting more like a "small claims court", urging: "The court should be free to deal with the most serious violations of human rights."
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