Stopping the rolling back of Human Rights in contemporary Britain is a challenge that we face again now as the new Government takes advantage of their slim mandate. They are starting with anti-strike legislation and the snoopers charter while trying to build support to scrap the Human Rights Act.
I suspect that the scrapping of the Human Rights Act is on the agenda partly because the case to deport Abu Qatada took a long time thereby infuriating Mrs May. However that is not a good enough reason to remove that protection from the rest of us.. It was an important case displaying anti torture principles that will protect British people both at home and abroad when they fall foul of local laws. There will always be powers that want to roll back Human Rights but think carefully before you let it happen: They are there to protect us and our children and they allow us to have free speech and to get involved in activity such as campaigning against domestic violence, union blacklisting by employers, climate change, organising as a trade union or 38 degrees. The snoopers charter will be far more use in pursuing legitimate political activists than catching terrorists; consider why the Tories want Politicians in charge of authorising surveillance orders instead of Judges?
Remember, when our hard won freedoms have been gradually chiselled away we won’t be able to send a bunch of Barons to get them back and make things right again.