This paper dismantles the claim made repeatedly by senior parliamentarians and others from across the political divide that the United Kingdom cannot withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because this would put it in the same ‘camp’ as Russia and Belarus – two authoritarian countries guilty of gross violations of human rights over many years.
Policy Exchange demonstrates that it is absurd to compare Belarus and Russia, on the one hand, with the UK outside the ECHR, on the other. The argument that ECHR withdrawal would place the UK in company with, or in a club with, Belarus and Russia is based on drawing a manifestly false equivalence between the case for ECHR withdrawal and the reasons why Belarus and Russia find themselves outside the ECHR. Unlike Belarus and Russia, the UK is a free democracy with a vibrant political culture and a constitution that is firmly committed to the protection of political freedoms and human rights.
The report is backed by leading legal and political figures, including former Lord Chancellor and Foreign Secretary Rt Hon Jack Straw, former Lord Chancellor Lord (Michael) Gove, former UK Supreme Court justice Lord (Jonathan) Sumption, former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Patrick Elias, former Home Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Lord (Michael) Howard of Lympne KC, former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Australian High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer AC, and former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind KC.
The launch of this report was covered by:
