ALLIANCE signs joint letter to the Prime Minister on retaining the Human Rights Act

On global Human Rights Day, the ALLIANCE has co-signed a letter urging the Prime Minister to safeguard our human rights.

Human Rights Day, on 10 December, marks the day in 1948 when the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The European Convention on Human Rights enforces many of the rights set out in the UDHR and the Human Rights Act brings those rights home in the UK.  

The ALLIANCE has signed an open joint letter to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The letter has been signed by over 150 groups and challenges the Prime Minister to secure our Human Rights Act and safeguard human rights and democratic accountability in the UK.

The signatories to the letter include those health and social care organisations, as well as those working with children, carers, people with learning disabilities and mental ill health, women experiencing violence, migrants, older people, and groups campaigning for LGBTQ_ rights, fair trials, access to justice, decent housing, and against racial discrimination.

Since its enactment, the Human Rights Act has had a powerful and dynamic impact on the lives of everyday people, extending beyond the courtroom. The Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has informed the work of the ALLIANCE – and many others – and generated positive developments in legislation, policy and practice, including in health and social care.

Changes to human rights legislation at a UK level would have a direct impact on the lives of people in Scotland. From a Scottish perspective, there is substantial concern about the extent to which changes to the Human Rights Act could impact upon the ongoing human rights work and commitments to international conventions across the Scottish policy landscape. To protect, uphold and fulfil the rights of disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers, it is vital that the journey towards embedding human rights is not disturbed, or the progress that has already been made become undone.

We believe that the Human Rights Act, in its current form, should not be diluted. Any changes to the Human Rights Act must be progressive and enhance the protections that are currently offered, not regressive. We therefore urge the UK Government to prioritise meaningful human rights leadership to ensure that the rights that we currently have are respected, protected, and fulfilled.

Sanchita Hosali, Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, the organisation coordinating the letter, said: 

“As the UK enthusiastically participates in President Biden’s Summit for Democracy, it is time for our Prime Minister to also turn the lens inwards. The hostile environment towards human rights and accountability cannot continue; if we are a nation that values democracy, we must also value the checks on power.”  

“At BIHR whether we are working with doctors and nurses, children and parents, teachers or prison officers, women surviving abuse, people with learning disabilities and many others; what we see every single day is the real value and meaning of our Human Rights Act for people across the UK.”  

“Rather than hyperbole and rhetoric bordering on dog whistle politicking, we need a government that is willing to stand up for Our Human Rights Act, our way to hold them to account. As we all work hard to mitigate the impact of the pandemic – a crisis in which our Human Rights Act has provided vital protections – we stand with over 150 other organisations calling for a world in which our political leaders move from the romanticisation of being human rights pioneers in 1948 and commit to our rights being a part of everyone’s life, every day, today and tomorrow. It is a challenge we urge Mr Johnson to take on.” 

You can read the letter via the link below.

Read the ALLIANCE’s response to the Independent Human Rights Act Review.

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