In light of the Tory pledge by Theresa May today about the Human Rights Act, let me just help you out as to why this affects YOU.
The press loves a good Human Rights Act (HRA) story, don't they? We all do, maybe. It's the new, "health and safety" or "political correctness gone mad". Who gives a crap if prisoners can't have a Playstation? I haven't got a sodding Playstation! Who cares if some bastard with a hook for a hand gets sent off to "his own" to get dealt with however they see fit?
Alright, I don't necessarily agree with your views on that but you have the right to have those views and to tell whoever you want about them. (articles 9 and 10 - freedom of conscience and expression)
That's the same right that lets you rant about the government on Facebook, that means television can parody politicians and that newspapers are allowed to expose the government's corruption over expenses and lying about wars - all without anyone being locked up like a Russian punk band.
These rights have conditions attached, you know. Those rights can be ignored by the Government in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. Most rights are subject to these limits. That's pretty broad, no? Are governments so bereft of good lawyers to not be able to work that for the likes of Abu Qatada? Or do they ignore their lawyers' advice so as to make political mileage out of it, just like Theresa May did?
So, sure. We have to jump through hoops to deal with hooky clerics and prisoners with nothing but time on their hands but, you know what UK? Our country has been around for ages. We have been built, destroyed, rebuilt, invaded, conquered, lived through wars and plagues. I think that the Human Rights Act and the protection it gives YOU is probably worth growing the fuck up about and telling banshee-esque politicians like May to keep their lying hands off.
Ben Knight
p.s. - YOUR other rights are:
- Right to life - government, police, G4S and other private contractors should not really be able to kill YOU. Don't laugh; it has happened on many occasions recently. Look it up.
- Inhuman Treatment - those same people shouldn't be allowed to torture YOU.
- Slavery - no forced labour except things like community service.
- Right to Liberty - if you're locked-up by the police (or their private sector lackies), it had better be for a good reason, with a judge keeping on eye on why and for how long.
- Right to a Fair Trial - get told what you are supposed to have done and have the right to put your side of things. Also, this is the right that lets you hold your employer to account for giving you the boot. Due process may take a little time but that's how we know the innocent are not in prison and the guilty are. When this article is breached, innocent people lose their liberty and sometimes their lives.
- Retrospective Crimes - If you do something now and it is legal, this stops the Government deciding to lock you up later when they decide that they didn't like it.
- Right to Privacy - this is what stops the State getting its paws on every detail about you and interfering in every little bit of your life. It has conditions like the ones above but the assumption is that you, your family and your emails/letters etc are safe from the State. No wonder, in the light of the NSA and GCHQ stories of late that the Government wants to steal this right away from you. They are already breaching it.
- Freedom of Assembly - join a union. It's what separates us from the crazy states.
- Marriage and Family - get married and have a family if you want. It's your right at the moment. The Government have not excluded this from their plans to get rid of this Act.
- Peaceful Enjoyment of your Possessions - what's yours is yours. The State can't have it unless we have voted to let them take it. Even the Queen has to keep her mits of your house due to this right. That wasn't always the case and, without the HRA, we would return to the State being able to take your land for little or no compensation just because it suits them.
- Get an Education - the State has to let you go to school and learn. They can charge you money for it once you get that far but nobody can be kept out - even if they're a gob-shite. Gob-shites need to learn a different way. The State has to leave none of them behind.
- Be free from discrimination - not just because of your religion or your ethnicity but also because of your gender, your political or other opinions or any other thing about you. This is what makes HUMAN rights about the human. We are all human, even those who don't always act like it.
BEST OF ALL - They have to hold elections so you can kick the bastards out if they take the piss.
This government is desperate to get rid of YOUR rights. Ask yourself why. They want to stop you being able to see a lawyer to exercise any of these rights too. Ask yourself why.
Anyone ready to exercise that last right yet?
