‘The last decade has been a disaster for human rights. Labour can change that’

Human rights in this country have been devastated over the last decade, with a staggering number of protections removed since the last election, from draconian measures to stifle the right to protest, to the criminalisation of people fleeing conflict and persecution, to denying truth and justice to the victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

As a global organisation, Amnesty International hears from leaders around the world who are baffled at the UK’s seeming willingness to throw away decades of global leadership in respect for human rights in search of a few short-lived headlines, most recently with renewed calls for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Such a move would be a deplorable step backwards for this country and is a hugely troubling gauge of just how far we’ve strayed.

At this Labour conference, the party has an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and clearly set out a positive vision for human rights both at home and abroad. That vision should include committing to develop a progressive foreign policy with human rights at its heart and a senior cabinet position to head it up. 

It’s essential that rights aren’t just restored in order to repair the damage done but to set a human rights agenda that will go farther and establish the UK as a beacon and innovator in how it promotes and protects people’s rights. 

Protecting and championing our rights

We want to see the European Convention on Human Rights championed. It is the cornerstone of protections in the country and leaving it would be a disaster in both practical and principled terms.

Not only would leaving it breach the Good Friday Agreement, threatening the peace in Northern Ireland, it would undoubtedly hit the most vulnerable people the hardest, including the elderly, disabled and victims of crime. The convention provides vital protection for everyone in the UK, including those who need to seek asylum.

It would go against what most people want, with a recent nationwide poll that we commissioned showing a clear majority of people across the country (57%) want to stay part of this key treaty. It’s also not a public priority, with more than 90% saying they want the next government to focus on tackling the growing pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis above all else.

Keeping the ECHR means fully respecting the Human Rights Act, which has been vital for holding the government to account when things go wrong such as with the Hillsborough tragedy or the woeful handling of the Covid pandemic. More than four out of five people (83%) said they felt it was important to be able to challenge the government if it violates people’s rights. 

And much more can be done to enable people to understand their own human rights. For a start, as Labour develops its policies ahead of the upcoming election, it could prioritise human rights education to empower children and young people to learn about their rights and be better able to take part in the world as active citizens.

Safeguard the right to protest

Also under fire is our long, proud history of protest. From the suffragettes to anti-war marches, to protests against the climate crisis, the right to protest is fundamental to our ability to defend our rights and demand change.

The unprecedented police powers to restrict the right to protest allowed under the Public Order Act make a mockery of this strong tradition, and this damaging law needs to be repealed. It will almost certainly have a chilling effect by discouraging people from joining protests in the first place – especially if they know they risk being subjected to serious mistreatment by the police.  

Repair the housing system

The erosion of the social safety net that ensures people have the basics for a decent life is deeply worrying. For decades, the housing system has been broken and not fit for purpose. Access to adequate, affordable housing is a fundamental right, not a privilege.

Specific government policies have been responsible for causing thousands of people across the country to be denied housing. At the heart of the problem is legislation and guidance that sets conditions by which authorities discriminate who can and can’t access the right to housing. The law that requires local authorities to ration who has access to decent homes is in part due to severe shortfalls in adequate, affordable housing.

Fulfilling the right to housing has to move beyond words to be a priority in action. We desperately need more new social homes to be built each year and the conditions that are denying thousands of people access to social housing must be reviewed. Unless housing is rightfully recognised as a legal human right in England, there is no way to hold the government to account for its devastating failings.

Scrap xenophobic policies

Political xenophobia and scapegoating are criminalising people fleeing persecution and conflict while enabling wider racism. The asylum system must be made to focus on delivering fair and efficient decisions. Legislation preventing that – including the Illegal Migration Act – must be scrapped. 

Instead, the Labour Party needs to ensure its immigration policy respects human life and dignity, including by committing to providing more safe routes for people entitled to safety, abandoning the deplorable Rwanda scheme, which would cast-off the UK’s asylum responsibilities, ending the imposition of extortionate visa fees and proactively supporting the right to family life.

Britain is fast losing its self-proclaimed reputation for upholding human rights, for allowing free speech and standing up for those being persecuted. There is the opportunity now to chart a completely different course, one which restores the compassion and decency to the politics and processes of this country. We urge Labour to grasp it.

Amnesty International and the Labour Campaign for Human Rights are holding a side-event at the Labour Party conference: ‘Restoring our Rights’ on October 10th, 17:30 to 19:00, meeting room 18, at the ACC, looking at what a future Labour government needs to do to restore our rights.