The effects of the worsening human rights situation in Britain

Yesterday, whilst some of you were busy, possibly attending the demonstration outside the Liberal Democrats' conference in York, I attended the East Anglia Amnesty International UK conference in the cathedral city of Ely, Cambridgeshire. Although much of the focus of that conference was on the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, it highlights how much worse the human rights situation has got in Britain. 

Since the coalition government took office in May 2010:

- Larger numbers of young people are being shut out of further and higher education simply because of their circumstances due to the scrapping of EMA and the trebling of higher education fees.
- Unfair welfare cuts, including capping welfare payment rises below inflation, have forced hundreds of thousands of Britons to use food banks when they can no longer make ends meet.
- ATOS' cruel Work Capability Assessments have resulted in the premature and wrongful deaths of more than 20,000 people with disabilities or mental health problems.
- Drastic cuts in legal aid have meant that many people are forced to represent themselves (without prior legal knowledge) in court, especially in family law cases such as child custody and divorce. All people should have access to fair justice regardless of their means.
- People now wanting to take employers to court, especially in unfair dismissal cases, now have to pay to get their cases heard.
- Secret courts , aka closed material procedures, are now permitted in many civil cases, a grievous violation of rights to fair justice also.
- The coalition has been inciting racism with its infamous 'Go Home' vans (now off the streets,thankfully) and its proposed Immigration Bill, and also unfair new rules for people wishing to bring in spouses from outside the EU.
- The 'gagging law' will result in significant limitations of people's right to campaign on important issues whilst allowing wealthy lobbyists free rein.

And this could all still happen within the next year:
 - Dangerous water cannons could end up being used against peaceful protestors within Britain.
- The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Bill has still not fallen, and this bill if passed could criminalise almost anything and trample over our freedom of assembly rights.
- The Home Secretary, Theresa May, plans to scrap the Human Rights Act completely as part of the Conservatives' election manifesto for 2015.

 Now that the Liberal Democrats have betrayed their past human rights commitments almost completely in their alliance to the Conservatives, it is clear in my opinion that the Green Party will be the best alternative for those campaigning for our rights and the rights of the environment. I also believe that fair and good human rights legislation, within a written constitution, is essential in an ecosocialist society as such a society works on principles of cooperation, fair distribution, conservation of our natural world, and respect for diversity.

 Alan.

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