Human Rights Act 'Reform'

[Fishnut]

Not my usual deep dive yet as I'm feeling depressed enough as it is with the state of British politics without getting sucked into this. But the sustained attack on our rights continues. Next up is the Human Rights Act, which the tories have hated since time immemorial (or so it seems) and would like nothing better that to get rid of the whole damned thing. This is their next best option.

There's a consultation open on their proposed reforms. It's open until 8 March 2022. I haven't dared take a look yet.

The Guardian has a terrifying summary,

It may bear the unassuming title of a “consultation paper”. But critics believe that the document released by Dominic Raab’s department on Tuesday is the culmination of a steady 12-year campaign by the justice secretary to rip up the Human Rights Act.

Footage of Raab from 2009 shows the then backbench MP looking into the camera and saying: “I don’t support the Human Rights Act and I don’t believe in economic and social rights.”

A few months after the footage was recorded, he released a book entitled The Assault on Liberty: What Went Wrong With Rights in which he argued that the law had opened the door to a slew of new court claims.

“The spread of rights has become contagious and, since the Human Rights Act, opened the door to vast new categories of claims, which can be judicially enforced against the government through the courts,” he wrote.

They do note there's been criticism from unusual places,

MI5, MI6 and GHCQ have told ministers that changes to the Human Rights Act could make it harder for them to defend cases in courts. In evidence to the independent Human Rights Act review committee, which could recommend changes, the security services said it would be unhelpful if the government went too far.

But the police have said they don't want or need the powers given to them by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and the government has ignored them so I'm not holding out a huge amount that this will reign in the Bill in any meaningful way.

It's very easy to see the incompetence of the pandemic response and think that this is a government flailing and not having a clue. Don't be fooled. There is a plan and they are sticking to it. The pandemic is, if anything, a welcome distraction so they can get on with their systematic dismantling of our rights - rights that have been fought for over generations - without too much scrutiny. And with their majority it will take a rebellion of backbenchers to stop this. If you have a Tory MP, email them. If you have a preferred alternative party, join them and then get involved and work to get those Tories replaced so that if/when this bill (and the others) do go though we can set about repealing them sooner rather than later.