Human Rights and Wrongs

Just what does our pathetic excuse for a government have against human rights?  Actually, to be absolutely fair, they're all in favour of human rights just so long as they don't apply in the UK.  Of course, when it comes to the UK, we know what the official line on human rights in general, and the Human Rights Act in particular is - human rights legislation is biased in favour of criminals and too easily exploited by nasty types like terrorists, foreigners and Muslims.  Somehow, by scrapping the Human Rights Act and withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights, we can magically protect ourselves from all these evil-doers.  Incredibly, a large proportion of the UK's public seem to support such a crackpot view, seemingly too stupid to grasp that if you take away the 'rights' of criminals, then you take these rights away from all of us.  Perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on these people - after all, they've had the right-wing press ramming this anti-human rights propaganda down their throats for years now.  Is it any wonder they've been brainwashed into supporting their own potential oppression? 

The right's position is predicated on the idea that we can neatly identify 'good' and 'bad' people and separate them into discreet groups, with only the 'good' being entitled to rights.  In the real world, of course, it just isn't that simple - we have no choice but t extend rights to everyone, regardless, as the only thing we can know for sure about them is that they are human.  The right-wing propaganda plays heavily on the fact that, most of the time, the only people we see invoking their human rights are those accused of crimes, thereby giving the distorted impression that human rights favour the accused.  In reality, obviously, the vast majority don't have to invoke our human rights, because we aren't ever in a position where we would need to, but the fact is that we can never know when we could find ourselves falsely accused or victimised by authority.  At which point, believe you me, you'll be vary glad of the fact that the constitution, via the Human Rights Act, guarantees you certain basic rights and freedoms.  

The problem for the right lies in the very concept of everyone having 'rights'.  For them, things like liberty and human rights are privileges which are earned - or rather bought - through economic and social success, or even just birth right.  For them, discerning the 'good' people worthy of such rights is easy - just look at their levels of wealth and power.   That's why they don't like human rights - they are designed to level the playing field and prevent the rich and powerful from abusing their position privilege.  Not to mention regulate our relationship with the state.  It's worth bearing in mind that if the likes of Theresa May get their way, then, in human rights terms, the UK will be left on a par with the likes of China or Uzbekistan.  As I've said before on this blog, how we treat the most reviled members of our society in terms of rights is a measure of how civilised we are.  The simple fact is that by protecting their rights, we are also guaranteeing ours - there is no other way.