Chaos reigns among the members of the commission set up by the prime minister to draft a replacement for the Human Rights Act (HRA), leaked emails and a resignation suggest.

According to documents leaked to the press, one Tory member of the commission has accused the chairman of being ‘provocative and bullying’, while the commission in turn has told the justice secretary that government plans have parallels with Nazi Germany.

Scrapping the HRA in favour of a British Bill of Rights (BBR) was one of David Cameron’s key commitments at the general election. A new commission started work last year on how this could be achieved and is due to report in December. However, it has now emerged that the commission is split into factions that cannot agree a way forward.

Commission chairman Sir Leigh Lewis, a former permanent secretary, said in a now leaked paper discussed at the commission’s 29 February meeting that he was expecting to release three separate reports, one each from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat representatives, and one from himself. This would tell the government that the commission was divided and that its views could be ignored, Sir Leigh warned.

Other leaked emails reveal that Tory commission member Anthony Speaight QC considers Sir Leigh’s leadership manner ‘provocative and bullying’ and disclose members’ fears that a new BBR could offend the Scots before their independence referendum.

Another reveals that the commission has warned justice secretary Kenneth Clarke that allowing MPs to dismiss unpopular rulings from Europe is reminiscent of Nazi Germany, whose elected representatives were responsible for some of the regime’s worst laws.

Tory academic Michael Pinto-Duchinsky has resigned from the commission, claiming that Europhiles, such as Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, were dictating its agenda.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson for the Bill of Rights commission said: 'The commission is making good progress on its work and will issue its final report to government by the end of the year in accordance with its terms of reference.'