Politicians
are never reluctant to criticise nations with poor Human rights records. As we
speak the UK has confirmed that
we will not be sending official representatives to the Ukraine as a
protest against its treatment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. We
are regularly calling on developing nations to improve their human rights
records.
This is what we would expect from our democratic leaders.
But the attitude soon changes when Human rights at home get
in the way. I have talked before about the present government’s dislike for the
Human Rights Act –
This duplicity is raising its head again as the Home
Secretary has set herself in confrontation with the judiciary over the Human Rights
of offenders. This concerns the right to
a family life enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
which came onto our statute books by way of the Human Rights Act under the last
government. She is threatening primary legislation if judges do not follow her
view that the right to family life is not absolute. So if a foreign offender
has family in this country the government can insist on the right to deport
them even if that would mean breaking up a family.
Theresa May has said - "This is not an absolute right.
So in the interests of the economy or of controlling migration or of public
order – those sorts of issues – the state has a right to qualify this right to
a family life,"
As I mentioned in my earlier blog, these rights were the product
of an Anglo-American initiative after WW2. We should be defending them rather
than attacking them.
But the proposals are fundamentally flawed, because they
will always involve secondary punishment. If somebody commits an offence, it is
right they are punished within our sentencing law. But these proposals will
involve extending that punishment to the children of offenders. If the government
can force a deportation which would remove a parent from a household then the
children have to go as well or they have to be separated from their parent. What
have those children done to deserve that?Many of them will be UK Citizens.
There are reasons for these rights. One is to ensure that
governments cannot abuse the rights of innocent citizens. That is exactly what
is wrong with this plan.
If Mrs. May goes ahead with her threats then we can expect a
flood of cases before the courts in this country and in Europe.
Whilst one can appreciate that they would be popular with some voters and some
tabloids that does not justify them.
Fighting for peoples rights
This country - wellthe govt - are all about aying how they are helping others in other countries with human rights etc but they are taking away the human rights of their own people! The sick and disabled of THIS country are HUMANS and they should have rights - rights to be alklowed to live and have a certain allowance to life, yet this evil govt are attacking the disabled so much, saying we are fit to work no matter what our malady - if you breathe - you can work - But who wants to employ people who spend 9 out of 10 days sick and ill? - NOBODY. So we get sanctions and we are vilified in the papers when the truth is - the govt are the fraudsters - they LIED to get in to office by saying they weould carew for the old the young and the sick - ALL LIES when all they have done is put the fear of god into us.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet when people kill themselves or die cos of WCA etc there is NO news coverage - becaus ethe disacbled of the uk have NO human rights any more - as even tho the fraud rate was 0.5% - 99,5% of DLA recipients are being attacked.
Makes life not worth living, and living in fear is not living anyway