Having run out of reasons to blame the EU for the failures of Conservative policy, Suella Braverman (Home Secretary), and the right wing faction of the Tory Party she represents, have now turned their attentions to taking Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and scrapping the Human Rights Act. To put that into perspective, the only other European countries that are not in the ECHR are the dictatorships, Belarus and Russia, writes Bridgwater Labour Policy Officer Alex Martin.
The ECHR is an is an international convention established to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. It was established in the 1950s and was designed to avoid the atrocities Europe faced in the 1930s and 1940s. It contains rights, such as bans on slavery and torture, and the right to a fair trial or to free speech. Interestingly, Winston Churchill was involved in its creation. Quite why the Conservatives have proved so obsessed with taking us out of the Convention is not immediately clear. Taking a machete to human rights does not just undermine the rights of illegal migrants, but to all humans. Babies and bath water spring to mind.
Unedifying
Labour will protect and promote the Human Rights Act, which was introduced by the last Labour government to help people better defend the rights they are guaranteed under the ECHR.
Braverman has previously declared it her dream to see planes deporting refugees to Central African dictatorships and used unedifying collective nouns to describe unrecorded migrants, such as comparing them to ‘hurricanes’ and ‘swarms’. Braverman has also denied that the LGBT community should be afforded refugee status. Tell that, for example, to men in Uganda who face life imprisonment, and even the death penalty, for taking part in homosexual activity. The lack of emotional depth is palpable.
Clearly, mass migration is a problem to be solved and will involve prevention and return. But likening humans on the move to adverse weather events or plagues is dehumanising and devoid of pathos.
Braverman argues that those fleeing persecution should settle in the first ‘safe’ country they arrive at; which, assuming they come by land or sea, is a fairly simple and straightforward thing for a politician living on an island on the edge of the Eurasian landmass to say. However, this view is unlikely to curry favour with the likes of Greece, Turkey, Italy or Spain, who receive the bulk of the uncharted migrants entering Europe.
Presumably, Braverman’s policies have less to do with her convictions than with her desire to throw red meat at the Tory faithful in preparation for a leadership bid against Sunak.
Beware the Ides of March…talking of which, wasn’t Julius Caesar also an illegal Channel crosser?
Development
Wars, economic crises and global heating are the principal causes of mass migration. And yet the Conservative Government binned the Department for International Development, have failed to provide visa routes for asylum seekers and have rolled back on climate pledges.
Labour is dedicated to establishing an asylum system that is fair, efficient, and well-managed, with a focus on assisting those escaping persecution and conflict. Labour plans to expedite asylum decisions and eliminate the existing backlog. The Conservatives’ unfeasible and unethical Rwanda policy will be scrapped. Instead, resources will be allocated to the National Crime Agency to combat human trafficking into Britain.
Labour will collaborate with international partners to resolve crises that force people to abandon their homes. Labour is devoted to enhancing international development to address the root causes that compel individuals to seek refuge in Europe.