Fighting for freedom? The historic and future relationship between conservatism and human rights
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This Bright Blue report explores the development and importance of human rights in England, particularly the historical and philosophical relationship between conservatism and human rights.
Conservatives have been influential in the development of human rights in the UK for centuries. Sir Winston Churchill made the enthronement of human rights a war aim, which was achieved by the founding of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It was a Conservative MP in 1968 who was the first to campaign for incorporating the ECHR into UK statute law, which would eventually be realised with the introduction of the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998.
However, Conservatives today are sceptical of the HRA. The current Government has promised to review the UK’s future human rights legal framework after Brexit. This report outlines and assesses different options for reform, concluding that Conservatives should be supporters of the HRA and ECHR.
The report identifies three main options for reforming the UK’s human rights legal framework:
- The UK repeals the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), withdraws from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and adopts a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (BBRR)
- The UK repeals the HRA but does not withdraw from the ECHR, and adopts a BBRR
- The UK does not pursue the proposal: it does not repeal the HRA and does not withdraw from the ECHR
This report presents an argument for the third option: against embarking upon any major legislative reform of the UK’s human rights framework, and against withdrawal from the ECHR.
