Prime Minister Gordon Brown today strongly defended the Human Rights Act, insisting it was a "shield and a safeguard for us all".

Mr Brown spoke out in defence of the legislation days after Justice Secretary Jack Straw suggested it may need to be "rebalanced" amid fears it had become a "villain's charter".

Speaking at an event to mark the 60th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration on Human Rights, he said: "In a country like Britain with a strong tradition of democracy, it is all too easy to take our rights for granted.

"But we should never forget the universal rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration and in our Human Rights Act are a shield and a safeguard for us all."

The Prime Minister also pledged extra action to get young people involved in politics, after being warned by a well-known teenage film star that her generation's voice was being ignored.

Dakota Blue Richards, 14, the star of The Golden Compass, was among young activists who chatted to Mr Brown before his speech.

Miss Richards, who this summer joined 86 other teens in a pioneering human rights-based summer camp in the Lake District, told him: "We think there should be more meetings between young people and people like yourself so we have more say."

In his speech the Prime Minister paid tribute to the passion shown by the young people and added: "We need to do more to ensure voices such as theirs are heard and to encourage young people like them to get involved in political activities.

"I can think of no better way of ensuring that the values of the Universal Declaration are as cherished for the next 60 years as they have been for the last."

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