MPs issued a staunch defence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) yesterday after its reputation was repeatedly maligned by the Tory leadership.

The ECHR - which is often mistakenly conflated with the EU - has come under separate attacks by PM David Cameron and Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.

Their attacks have elicited cross-party warnings from MPs that breaking with the human rights convention on which the court is based would severely damage Britain's "moral stature."