British Bill of Rights

EU Referendum 2016 - a personal view

Today the Prime Minister announced that he'd achieved a deal on a reformed European Union; that there would be an in-out referendum on 23rd June; and that he would be campaigning to remain "in".

I'm sure the PM had good reasons for engaging in the "deal making" process, perhaps it mattered to one or two members of the cabinet but I'm neither persuaded nor disappointed by it and I very much doubt that the "deal" will change the minds of more than a few stragglers in the country. Some people, members of UKIP for example, are determined to have us leave the EU regardless of the circumstances. Others are equally determined to remain in the EU. Neither of those groups will be in any way persuaded by the new deal. That leaves the undecided and those who just won't vote. Are the undecideds really going to make a decision as momentous as this because of the contents of that deal?

I approach this matter from two different perspectives: the case for staying in and the various arguments I've heard for leaving. I shall be voting to remain in the EU.

The case for remaining in the EU

My grandfather fought in the first world war, a war brought about by infighting among the nation states of Europe; my father fought in the second world war, a war brought about by infighting among the nation states of Europe. I have been very fortunate in that I did not have to waste my youth fighting European wars and I attribute a large amount of credit for that fact to what is now the European Union.

The EU's story began with the  European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) formed after the second world war with the specific aim to "make war not only unthinkable but materially impossible". By the time of the 1975 referendum the community had changed to become the European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the common market). In 1993 it became the European Community (EC) and ultimately merged into what is now the European Union.

It is a single continuum. To those who say that it's not what we voted for in 1975, speaking only for myself, I say that it absolutely is what I voted for in 1975. I was young then but I wasn't stupid, I could see the future and wasn't "fooled by the wording" of the question posed on the ballot paper.

The European Community in its various forms has never been purely an economic club, it's always been about peace and security. Of course that doesn't mean that the world has been free of war for the last 70 years nor does it mean that NATO is redundant, there are plenty of external threats from beyond Europe's borders.

Is it perfect? No of course not. Like any mature computer program it has had bits added on, bits taken out, it's been patched and repatched. It certainly needs more reform than the PM's "deal" and of course that reform will, eventually, take place. In my view, the EU is stronger with Britain and vice-versa. It makes more sense to me to have a seat on the Board if we want to make things better.

The case for leaving the EU

It's quite hard for me to offer a coherent case for leaving the EU. Personally I don't think it's a good idea and all the arguments I've heard advocating BREXIT have been focussed on one or more of:-

• claimed direct financial savings
• grand schemes involving trading with Australia, South Africa and others
• confusion between the European Convention on Human Rights and other "European" entities
• fears about immigration
• don't like "being told what to do"
• "we used to be brilliant"

 I'm afraid they haven't impressed me much  so I can do no better than to point you to Michael Gove's excellent piece in The Spectator.

Two minute human rights

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Confused about Europe?

European this, European that, all very confusing to us mere mortals, especially when the politicians take advantage of the confusion to push their own agendas rather than explaining in clear and simple language what's what.

So, in plain-English, what is the European Convention on Human Rights? Something to do with the EU right? Wrong. As this helpful, plain English, post explains.

What Is The Human Rights Act And Why Does It Matter?

The Human Rights Act is a law that protects all of us from having our human rights taken away by the state. It means that public authorities have a legal obligation to uphold our human rights. A public authority is, for example, a hospital, school or the government. And everyone is protected. So, if you’re disabled, in hospital, accused of a crime, seeking refuge, homeless, gay, straight, religious, secular, snooped on, in the Army, a neglected child or a victim of trafficking, then you will have rights under this law to be treated properly and with dignity.

Read the full article on rightsinfo.org

Free, accessible, human rights info

Courtesy rightsinfo.org

Manifesto human rights

I searched each of the party manifestos for the term 'human rights', this is what I found:-

GREENS - no mention of human rights.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

• Protect the Human Rights Act and enshrine the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in UK law. 
• We will take appropriate action to comply with decisions of UK courts and the European Court of Human Rights. 
• Block any further attempts to limit the right to trial by jury.
• Pass a new Freedoms Act, to protect citizens from excessive state powers.

UKIP

• We will remove ourselves from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights: the Strasbourg Court whose interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights has been known to put the rights of criminals above those of victims. Our own Supreme Court will act as the final authority on matters of Human Rights.
• We will also repeal Labour’s Human Rights legislation. It has given European judges far too much power over British law making and law enforcement and prevented us deporting terrorists and career criminals and from implementing whole-life sentences.
• Our human rights will be enshrined in law via the introduction of a new, consolidated UK Bill of Rights. This will complement the UN Declaration of Human Rights and encapsulate all the human and civil rights that UK citizens have acquired under UK law since Magna Carta. This new UK Bill of Rights will apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

LABOUR

• Will stand up for citizens’ individual rights, protecting the Human Rights Act and reforming, rather than walking away from, the European Court of Human Rights
• We will support human rights, always putting individual freedom and democracy at the heart of our foreign policy
• We will appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy to promote respect for the human rights of LGBT people, and work towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.

CONSERVATIVES

• Will scrap the Human Rights Act, and introduce a British Bill of Rights. This will break the formal link between British courts and the European Court of Human Rights, and make our own Supreme Court the ultimate arbiter of human rights matters in the UK 
• Will stand up for the rule of law and human rights in Zimbabwe
• Will promote reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka
• Will ensure our Armed Forces overseas are not subject to persistent human rights claims that undermine their ability to do their job

Free speech

This blog offers "news and views" from Kingsley, for the most part my news and views but that needn't be so. Since the beginning it's been made clear that anyone with a genuine connection to or interest in Kingsley can write on the blog and of course anyone at all can comment.

If you'd like to post articles on the blog fill out the form or contact me some other way and I'll setup credentials for you to post directly to the web. If you want to post but not using the technology yourself, email your articles to me and I'll post them for you. You can post under your real name or a 'handle' although in the case of the latter I'd need to know your real name. You're entirely responsible for your words so I'll need to pass on the writ if you get it wrong.

If you think that content posted here is biased or unfair you have three remedies:

1) Feel free to rebut anything you consider to be out of order. If you do that anonymously in a whingeing fashion, your complaint is likely to be treated with contempt.

2) If you work a little harder you might understand why you're wrong.

3) You can ignore it. Somewhere on the internet someone will always be disagreeing with you, sometimes that person will be me.

Human rights myth busting

The new rightsinfo.org project launched last night providing an entrance for laymen into the world of human rights legislation and practice.

One feature is its 14 worst myths visualization which explodes myths such as "Police give fried chicken to a buglar because of his human rights".

Another area builds a list of the top 50 human rights cases everyone should know about.