Senior Cabinet ministers have become embroiled in a furious row over human rights, after Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke publicly questioned claims made by Home Secretary Theresa May in a speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Announcing plans to change rules which prevent the deportation of foreign offenders on human rights grounds, Mrs May cited the case of an illegal immigrant who she said had escaped being sent back to his home country because he had a pet cat.
But Mr Clarke said he did not believe that any such case existed, and issued a challenge to his Cabinet colleague to accept his bet that she could not provide details of it.
The Judicial Office, which represents judges, later said that the cat - named Maya - had "nothing to do" with the 2009 decision to allow a Bolivian man to remain in the UK, and civil rights group Liberty said it was "dangerously unbecoming" of Mrs May to use the case to bolster her argument.
But aides to the Home Secretary insisted that she was right, pointing out that the immigration judge who initially heard the case cited the cat as a factor in his conclusion that the man and his partner enjoyed a family life together in the UK.
And Downing Street backed the Home Secretary, with a source close to Prime Minister David Cameron saying that the Justice Secretary would doubtless back Mrs May now she had produced her evidence. The Justice Secretary agreed with the rule changes being introduced by Mrs May, said the source.
The row, quickly dubbed "Catgate", dominated the day's proceedings at the Manchester conference. Mrs May had earlier won a standing ovation after telling Tory activists that the Human Rights Act "needs to go" to restore "sanity" to the immigration system
She sparked audible gasps from the audience as she reeled off a list of offenders who she said could not be deported because of rulings that it would breach their right to a family life - including the cat allegation.
But Mr Clarke said such cases had "nothing to do with the Human Rights Act" and cast doubt over whether they were all genuine. He condemned the "trivialisation" of serious issues in the current political debate over the Act.
He pointed out that Mrs May had been expressing a personal opinion on repeal of the HRA, and that official Government policy was to await the conclusions of a review of its effectiveness. "The British are great believers in human rights. We invented the idea. It goes back to Magna Carta," said Mr Clarke.
Senior Cabinet ministers have become embroiled in a furious row over human rights, after Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke publicly questioned claims made by Home Secretary Theresa May in a speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Announcing plans to change rules which prevent the deportation of foreign offenders on human rights grounds, Mrs May cited the case of an illegal immigrant who she said had escaped being sent back to his home country because he had a pet cat.
But Mr Clarke said he did not believe that any such case existed, and issued a challenge to his Cabinet colleague to accept his bet that she could not provide details of it.
The Judicial Office, which represents judges, later said that the cat - named Maya - had "nothing to do" with the 2009 decision to allow a Bolivian man to remain in the UK, and civil rights group Liberty said it was "dangerously unbecoming" of Mrs May to use the case to bolster her argument.
But aides to the Home Secretary insisted that she was right, pointing out that the immigration judge who initially heard the case cited the cat as a factor in his conclusion that the man and his partner enjoyed a family life together in the UK.
And Downing Street backed the Home Secretary, with a source close to Prime Minister David Cameron saying that the Justice Secretary would doubtless back Mrs May now she had produced her evidence. The Justice Secretary agreed with the rule changes being introduced by Mrs May, said the source.
The row, quickly dubbed "Catgate", dominated the day's proceedings at the Manchester conference. Mrs May had earlier won a standing ovation after telling Tory activists that the Human Rights Act "needs to go" to restore "sanity" to the immigration system
She sparked audible gasps from the audience as she reeled off a list of offenders who she said could not be deported because of rulings that it would breach their right to a family life - including the cat allegation.
But Mr Clarke said such cases had "nothing to do with the Human Rights Act" and cast doubt over whether they were all genuine. He condemned the "trivialisation" of serious issues in the current political debate over the Act.
He pointed out that Mrs May had been expressing a personal opinion on repeal of the HRA, and that official Government policy was to await the conclusions of a review of its effectiveness. "The British are great believers in human rights. We invented the idea. It goes back to Magna Carta," said Mr Clarke.