Ed Miliband: UK leaving the ECHR would be a disaster for gay people
Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he thinks Tory plans to abandon the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would be a “disaster” for Britons, as it has “protected the rights of victims of crime”, including gay people.
In a post on his Facebok, Mr Miliband said: “Our human rights laws have protected the rights of victims of crime, the elderly, the disabled and gay people. We shouldn’t put that at risk.
“Labour has called for reform of the European Court of Human Rights. We think Strasbourg needs to do more to improve the quality of judges and give countries room to interpret decisions appropriately.
“But leaving the European Court of Human Rights, which the Tories appear to be proposing, would be a disaster for this country – putting Britain in the same bracket as Belarus, Europe’s last remaining dictatorship,” he continued.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced today that the ultimatum will be delivered to European judges, and that the courts will need to come to terms with working in an advisory capacity with Britain.
Prime Minister David Cameron also announced the proposal in his keynote address to the Tory Party Conference in Birmingham earlier this week, saying: “As for Labour’s Human Rights Act, we will scrap it once and for all.”
In its place, a Bill of Rights would be brought in, including the principles of the convention, which initially was drawn up following World War II.
The difference under the new proposals is that the new legislation would specify the British Supreme Court as the “ultimate arbiter” on human rights issues.
