The government is hell-bent on diluting the Human Rights Act. We must protect it

These rights have been central to many key justice fights in the past 20 years, and we can’t allow politicians to take them awa

‘This government has shown it is no fan of scrutiny, and has set about dismantling checks on its power.

The Human Rights Act is like serious injury insurance, or perhaps an action plan for a global pandemic: you hope you never need it.

The problem is that you might do, and it seems this horrific past year has reminded people in the UK that it’s wise to foresee potential trouble ahead. In new polling we at Amnesty commissioned this week, more than two-thirds (68%) of people thought it was important to have a safety net to hold the government to account when things go wrong, while more than half (53%) believed the coronavirus pandemic had illustrated the importance of human rights protections.

The government’s appalling handling of Covid in care homes, including the horror of the blanket imposition of do-not-resuscitate orders without proper process, has really brought home to people that you never know when you might find yourself or your loved ones in an unexpected position of vulnerability. So much of the past year was seemingly unthinkable until it happened, and it has demonstrated the fragility of our way of life without guarantees and protections when we are failed.

The Human Rights Act has been in the crosshairs of successive Conservative governments despite the fact that public polling has routinely shown such a move to be of little interest to voters. Indeed, our polling unsurprisingly saw issues such as proper funding for the NHS (67%), guaranteeing post-lockdown economic recovery (54%), and getting children’s education back on track (53%) to be the most pressing issues for the public. Reviewing human rights legislation was right at the bottom of the list, with just 18% of people thinking it should be a priority over coming years.

So why is this government so fixated on the Human Rights Act? Well, it has shown it is no fan of scrutiny across the board, and has set about dismantling checks on its power – from launching a “review of judicial review” to granting itself unfettered powers in the ‘spy cops’ bill. And now comes this attempt to water down the Human Rights Act. It seems this administration would rather mark its own homework. The problem is the public may not agree. More than half of people we polled (59%) said they thought human rights protections should be considered permanent and not subject to change by politicians.

It took ordinary people a long time to win these rights and we cannot allow politicians to take them away with the stroke of a pen. The Human Rights Act has been central to many key justice fights since it came into force 20 years ago, from Hillsborough to the Mid Staffs hospital scandal, to equal rights for gay couples or cases involving modern day slavery. And there’s every reason to suspect we’re going to need it even more over the years ahead. We should all be wary of the very people the Human Rights Act holds to account seeking to strip it back.

In addition, it’s clear that many people think tampering with the act presents a real threat to the union of the UK, as well as the fragile peace in Northern Ireland. This, in the end, was what a review of human rights legislation in the UK back in David Cameron’s tenure warned of. It ultimately concluded that the threat was too great. The government of today must decide if it is happy to take those risks now.

We are determined to oppose such a move, and as our poll findings show, it seems that most people in the UK will be standing with us. It should not be up to the government of the day to redraft, recast or remove human rights protections. They are not in the gift of politicians to bestow.

Kate Allen is the director of Amnesty International UK

People’s Media News

UK RELOADED THE LIBERTY BEACON WEB WIDE NEWS LIBERTY RISING EUROPE RELOADED TELEGRA.PH DAILY SCARE WE FIGHT BACK

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.