Dominic Raab has told MPs that Britain will remain a party to the European convention on human rights (ECHR) before outlining how it wants to change, reform and revise the domestic interpretation and application of the convention by the UK courts.

Launching a three-month consultation on a new bill of rights, the justice secretary faced a number of calls to row back on plans to strengthen the power of the state in the proposals against the rights of the individual.

The highly controversial reforms will introduce a permission stage to “deter spurious human rights claims” and change the balance between freedom of expression and privacy.

Addressing MPs, Raab told the Commons: “Following the reforms to the convention system reflected in the 2012 Brighton declaration, we will assert the margin of appreciation as appropriate in the UK’s dialogue with the Strasbourg court.”

Raab said the UK government wanted to “prevent the misuse and the distortion” of the convention, noting: “Some of this has arisen because of the Strasbourg case law and some from the UK case law.

“Let me just be very clear at the outset: my critique is levelled at the Human Rights Act, the way it operates – it’s not levelled at the UK judiciary, who have quite properly sought to implement legislation passed in this house.”

The shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, branded the reforms a “dead cat distraction tactic”.

“Every time the government’s in trouble politically they wheel out reforming the Human Rights Act,” he said.

“It’s a dead cat distraction tactic by a government that doesn’t know how to fix the criminal justice system that they’ve broken and is desperate to divert attention away from the corruption scandals they started.

“This is little more than an attempt to wage culture wars because they’ve surrendered from waging war on crime and corruption.”

MP’s heard that Boris Johnson was leading a party of “growing authoritarianism”.

Clive Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, said that if parliament was playing “authoritarian bingo” then Raab’s statement had achieved a full house.

“Not only have you come for our trade union rights, our rights to vote, our rights to protest – our human rights now are up for grabs. Today’s statement does nothing to strengthen human rights, it does everything to weaken them.”

Brendan O’Hara, the Scottish National party’s human rights spokesman, called on the government to provide evidence for the need for reforms to human rights law.

“This government regularly tells us that abuses of the system are the reason for all manner of reforms of legislation that simply don’t suit them. I know from my experience of the elections bill recently that they rarely manage to produce anything other than anecdotal evidence.

“This time: where is the empirical evidence for this enormous change and where can we see it?” he said.

Raab replied that the evidence base had been set out “at some length”, adding: “I have said it once but I am happy to reaffirm: we will stay in the European convention on human rights. We will qualify areas around article 8.”

Article 8 on the right to private and family life “invites qualification”, Raab said, adding that a new interpretation of this “will allow us to deport more foreign national offenders, which has been hamstrung by article 8 as it has been interpreted under the Human Rights Act”.

Raab said the proposals would also reinforce the weight given to freedom of speech, adding that it was: “A quintessentially British right, the freedom that guards all the others.

“But one which we have seen eroded of late by a combination of case law introducing continental-style privacy rules and the incremental narrowing of the scope for respectful but rambunctious debate in politically sensitive areas.

“Freedom of speech does sometimes mean the freedom to say things which others may not wish to hear,” he said.

Raab said the reforms would “sharpen” the separation of powers and make the UK supreme court, not Strasbourg, the “ultimate judicial arbiter when it comes to interpreting the ECHR in this country”.

“It is right that we provide greater legal certainty by making clear the primacy of the UK’s own case law and primary legislation, and the role of the UK supreme court, not Strasbourg, as the ultimate judicial arbiter when it comes to interpreting the ECHR in this country,” he said.

The justice secretary said of the UK’s proposals: “We can prevent serious criminals from relying on article 8 – the right to a family life – to frustrate their deportation from this country.” Raab said article 8 claims make up “around 70%” of all successful human rights challenges by foreign national offenders against deportation orders, adding: “Our proposals would enable us to legislate to curtail that abuse of the system.”

He said the changes would also help the government deliver its “root-and-branch reform” of parole proceedings, noting this had been raised by MPs from all sides in the aftermath of cases including that of Colin Pitchfork, a double child killer who was recalled to prison in November after approaching young women while on probation.

“In these areas and others our reforms will enable parliament to act and where necessary assert the margin of appreciation with respect to Strasbourg whilst remaining party to the convention.”