There are moments when it is necessary to point out that there are good reasons why the UK has, since 1945, had such a strong tradition of supporting human rights.
In 1948, with strong support and leadership from the UK, the United Nations produced its Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Europe followed suit in 1950, with the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK was once again a leading proponent, being at the forefront of creating this. It predates the European Union and has nothing to do with it.
Regrettably, it took until 1998 for the ECHR to be incorporated into UK law as the UK Human Rights Act, but it did eventually happen.
Many of our essential human freedoms are now dependent upon the existence of this Act and the two international agreements that gave rise to it.
The question is, then, why were these acts created? The United Nations has the answer to that:
The UDHR emerged from the ashes of war and the horrors of the Holocaust. The traumatic events of the Second World War brought home that human rights are not always universally respected. The extermination of almost 17 million people during the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews, horrified the entire world. After the war, governments worldwide made a concerted effort to foster international peace and prevent conflict. This resulted in the establishment of the United Nations in June 1945.
On 10 December 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - 30 rights and freedoms that belong to all of us. Seven decades on and the rights they included continue to form the basis for all international human rights law.
It is entirely fair to say that these codified human rights are the pragmatic achievement of the Second World War.
When it ended, the true scale of the Holocaust, with its resulting victimisation of Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, intellectuals, communists, Poles, devout Christians and many other minority groups within the Third Reich, was appreciated, and the world said 'never again', and meant it.
Today, Nigel Farage will be announcing that it is his intention that the UK should leave the ECHR. He wants this country to have the unrestrained right to abuse the human rights of people living here, to which entitlement they have an established legal claim.
He believes that his desire to victimise "others" living in this country so that he might pursue his own political gain exceeds the right of individuals to be protected by the rule of law. This, of course, was the belief of the fascists and other dictators at whom the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ECHR were directed. He does, therefore, wish to stand amongst their number, in the process abandoning all the gains that we made as a consequence of the sacrifices made by so many in this and other countries during the course of the Second World War, including by my grandfather, who died as a result of it.
I do not believe that Farage has the right to claim that they died for a wrongful cause, which is what he will be doing today. I think that they died to end the tyranny of abuse that emerged at that time, and which is emerging again, all over the world, at present.
For him to suggest otherwise is not, in my opinion, just wrong, but is an evil act.
It is an act against his fellow human beings, which he is encouraging others to follow.
It is in affront to every recognised major religion in the world, all of which would demand that their followers respect others as much as they do themselves, even if a great many have not followed that teaching.
It is an announcement of his intention to create a new tyranny, complete with internment camps and forced deportations.
As the last of those who fought between 1939 and 1945 die, it seems that we have forgotten the lessons of history and the reason why they had to give up so much, even if they survived that war. They fought to defeat fascism. They won. And now, it would seem, people want fascism in the UK.
Of course, I object. So, I think, should everyone else.
I will continue to live in the hope that I can treat others as I do myself, even when I disagree with them.
Farage is promoting something very different, very dangerous, and very evil. He is promoting politics based upon hate, and the destination for that is what the world saw in 1945, which is why it committed itself to the course of human rights at that time. That commitment is worth defending. We have to do so.
Taking further action
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Aaah – this is that little twerp called Jack Anderton – reported in the Guardian I think – who runs a Tik Tok account for Reform – as an advisor!!
The ‘we should not have fought the Nazi’s’ bollocks is all because Britain won a war but apparently did not win the peace.
Of course, it has to be someone else’s fault who looks different, mainly darker skinned or dose not speak English.
It has nothing to do with the way in which America (which speaks a lot of English so gets away with stuff it should not) just stopped its war aid overnight in favour of Germany at the cessation of hostilities at WW2 and nicked a lot of our empire; or nothing to do with how American style capitalism destroyed lots of British family owned firms through the stock market (asset stripping). Nor does it show how the English industrial class also worked out that they could get very rich quick by closing stuff down and liquidating the assets.
Yes – Attlee and his government wanted to help – but the post war private sector just wanted to get rich quick and make up for lost time. This country was eaten alive by North American style capitalism – not immigrants.
In polite parlance, anyone who believes that we should not have stood up to Hitler is just being anti-historic.
In impolite parlance, you are just being a racist arsehole.
BTW – anyone who wants to dig deeper into the English (racist) psyche needs to revisit Fintan O’Toole’s ‘Heroic Failure: BREXIT and the Politics of Pain’ (2019).
O’Toole – as only a victim of English oppression could – produces I think the most convincing account of the what is wrong with England and also reveals the tragedy behind it.
On page 44, he refers to Thatcher’s speeches after the Falkland war, where even she posed the question as to why the Brits only really came together as a nation when under threat. Why, she pondered as best the dogmatic leader could, could there not be togetherness in peace?
This question reveals the real English tragedy – a lack of self awareness, driven by a sense of post war entitlement that drives exceptionalism turbo charged by Thatcher’s own Neo-liberalism and the cult of the individual. And this goes right into the top of our society.
In other words, we are too busy self-realising in this country to realise that we are cutting our own and each other’s throats. Without the self realisation of that , it HAS to be someone else’s fault – back in time it was the French or the Spanish or the Pope, Jews and for a long time it was racism as the Empire came back to Blighty to work , then it became Europe and now, racism is back on the menu big time, because we have got out of Europe and the epiphany must be stopped!
All I can say is that I get this horrible feeling that we in this country are having our emotions played with all of the time, to stop us from seeing where the real problems lie – at the very top.
O’Toole nails it/us. Get it read!
Thank you
Perhaps Thatcher could have refected on her own part in fomenting deep division, in the way she used class warfare to set about dismantling our industrial base in partnership with the likes of Ian MacGregor in British Steel and the NCB, fully supported by a friendly Murdoch press? She was remarkably successful at embedding myths into our national consciousness, myths which lasted decades, including the household analogy, but also many more.
If I had the skill, I could create memes and cartoons of Fa***e desecrating Commonwealth war graves, and disrupting Remembrance Day silences with stiff arm salutes and cries of Sieg Heil! Because that’s what this pseudo-patriot fascist is up to.
A picture of the skeletal corpses in Belsen/Bergen or Dachau (or Srebrenica or Rwanda or Gaza) with “Reform don’t want to fix this” and a picture of the Gauleiter cadet from Dulwich college who wants to scrap the ECHR.
But the real tragedy? We don’t have any mainstream party leaders with either the guts or the moral competence to do that, nor do we have sufficiently honest press/media.
I agree with your last paragraph. You are spot on.
I wrote a letter a couple of months ago to Guardian asking them why they are very happy to describe Meloni as far right, but refuse to describe Farage, Badenoch and other British politicians as such (most of present Tory and all Reform are far right).
I got back some word salad how labels are not that important and not helpful (if they aren’t why are you describing then Meloni as far right – which I think she is – who in many respects can be compared to present Labour leadership).
I have a feeling that middle-class politicians in British establishment (and mainstream media) eyes can’t be far right or neo-nazi whatever they say or do – they are middle class, wearing suits, went to the same schools as us – how can they be fascist? We are British, fascism here is impossible. British far right comes only in the form of caricature for them – shaved working class tattooed man shouting on the street.
They’d also have to ask themselves some very uncomfortable questions – starting with why have we given so much time and space to the far right during the last 10, 15 years. I can’t see them capable of any meaningful reflection – BBC particularly.
I agree with you.
It was very apparent in questions to Farage today.
To his credit, John Swinney has worked on addressing the rising influence of the far right.
Of course, the knee-jerk reaction of the overwhelmingly Unionist media in Scotland was to mock his efforts – hell mend them.
Well worth a read to learn the truth behind some of the myths…
The 14 Worst Human Rights Myths
This myth-busting visualization will take news-making human rights stories and explain the reality behind the headline.
https://eachother.org.uk/the-14-worst-human-rights-myths/
It’s a good link Terry and shows how the ‘press’ of this country manufactures and nurtures prejudice and hate by selective reporting and innuendo. I recall the Mail headline with pictures of three judges titled ‘Enemies of the People.’ It also tells lies.
Changing the voting system and limiting donations needs to be accompanied by a reform of the media. Quite how I am not sure but it it needs to be done.
I too remember that
The Daily Mail editor should in my opinion, have been charged with a serious “incitement to…” offence, certainly GBH, possibly murder. Given the actual murders of Jo Cox (a few months earlier in June 2016), David Amess (later, 2021), and the frustrated attempt on Corbyn (that led to the murder of Makram Ali just a few months later, June 2017), I think its a reasonable expectation of a non-corrupt police & DPP. But there’s the problem…
The editor at the time was Paul Dacre who wasn’t averse to running to the civil courts when it suited HIS purposes for a bit of SLAPP & silence..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemies_of_the_People_(headline)
In Nov 2016 the DPP was Alison Saunders (not a name that fills me with confidence) who took over from guess who,
and the Met Commissioner was Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
refuse resist rebel revolt
And yet there are some (I have no idea of the exact number) who back Fartrage and his ilk and would vote for him and would vote for leaving the ECHR and the other conventions that this country is signed up to.
I don’t know what’s worse – that Fartrage and his abhorent views exist or that some are prepared to vote to back him.
I thought that 2019 when the Quockerwodger and his ilk gained power was bad enough and it led to 5 horrible years but this will be far, far worse.
Craig
Sadly many of the uneducated are falling for Farage and his lies.
When I say uneducated, this lack of education or mis-education of the working class has been deliberate over many years in my opinion.
I’m one of the uneducated.
Thankfully I read Orwell as a young lad, never believing that I would live to see it all come true.
I actually know people who are sharing nonsense about Britain being full up. It’s a worrying time, particularly as there are no politicians standing up and calling Farage out for what he is.
I have never found it difficult to enage with the workling class (it is where I come from ffs). The only thing you need to do is ask some questions, make some observations “Britain full up – well I’ve just driven through Wales & that looks pretty empty – what d’y mean full up” – get em talking, get ’em thinking a bit. Problem is: The Scum, The Daily Heil and the rest of the rags don’t want to get ’em thinking/questioning even a bit – nah – just certainties – as delivered by middle-class Oxbridge educated proto-nazis-whore-journos (who despise their readers).
Oh & the blog keeps talking about Mr Farage – I know about some toe-rag called Mr Fart-rage who pretends to be one of the people – but Faragaaae? never heard of him. Is he French? sound like a frog (& looks like one as well).
Much to agree with.
I never seem to have any problems finding real people to talk to – including many who I am sure would call themselves working class.
Thank -you for this. I agree with every word.
Alas, might Mr. Farage, and his “willing helpers”, not be alone?
Might the leaders of the “West” similarly not understand what is going on in the rest of the world who do not have a self-damaging problem with multi-ethnicity?
“It is the West that is playing the race card, the ethnic divisions, trying to stir up and interfere with the rest of the world’s multi-ethnic bid.”
https://michael-hudson.com/2025/08/hudson-wolff-natos-defeat-in-ukraine/
I have read a lot of Michael Hudson and learned a lot. However, he is sure the BRICS are the future.
It is not just the West who uses the race card and ethnic divisions.
In Russia the minority nations have an inferior status. My friend who lived in Belarus tells me how the country is a virtual colony and the people from Moscow assume superiority.
In China the culture of the Tibetans, and Uyghurs is suppressed. In India Modi is an ethno-nationalist.
In none of them are women or LGBT treated as equally as in Europe.
I read him and Martin Wolff and consider their views but like their fellow Americans, John Mearsheimer and Jeffrey Sachs, their theory of American hegemony seems to over ride the facts I see on the ground.
When it comes to UK and human rights, I am reminded of all wars that UK has directly (or indirectly) provided support to mass destruction. Just looking at the wars in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan where more than a million lives have been lost (numbers can be debated), I definitely keep asking myself – were these wars fought to uphold democracy, rule of law and human rights? When it comes to human rights in Saudi Arabia we seem to look the other side……
Sorry Richard – definitely not to argue on your post, however the current environment has definitely made me a lot more pessimistic and makes me look within and ask some tough questions on where is moral high ground in the west which we always want to claim…..I definitely don’t see the west as champions of human rights or rule of law when they are mute to ongoing genocide and look the other way when it comes to human rights of Palestinians (for decades).
I lost my temper a while back arguing about ‘immigrants’ and ‘concerned parents’ (all largely rent-a-gobs who travel round to different demos, or proper Nazis like Melanie Powell or Callum Barker). I said “1944” and when asked what I was on about said (roughly) “6/6/44 my dad and many of his generation landed on Sword Beach and shot every Nazi they encountered. Many died there. The survivors went on to create the civilised Europe I was born into in 1951. Today we need some more of that treatment for modern Nazis.” I know you are a principled pacifist and respect that. I’m not a pacifist, and think it could come to hey-lads-hey as we say oop North.
Why are the BBC showcasing and platforming Nigel Farage this afternoon?
Lead story on the BBC website.
BBC now the propaganda arm of Farage and Reform UK?
How many MPs do they have – 4!
Is this what the TV licence is now funding. The election of a fascist?
Can we have the Greens (4 mps) and Lib Dems (72 mps) showcased tomorrow please? I doubt it.
Disgraceful BBC.
Agreed.
You do know Reform have come on enormously since the last election? The polls say consistently they are by far and away the most popular party and Farage the most popular politician. They also made astonishing gains in the recent council elections. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean Farage doesn’t warrant a platform.
I am not stupid.
I also know he is a blatant liar and you have clearly fallen for those lies, from which you can draw your own conclusion as to what I might think of you .
Many of you now that County Durham is run by reform. This is the man in charge.
https://northeastbylines.co.uk/news/politics/durham-reform-leaders-struggles-in-hospitality/
Here’s more.
https://northeastbylines.co.uk/news/politics/reform-in-power-in-durham-does-it-matter/
Do you really think these people are suitable to run a council, Jill, let alone the country?
He already has numerous platforms to spread his lies and racist claptrap. Most of our grotesquely biased press, as well as GBNews, for which he gets paid a small fortune.
The BBC, like the spineless fools in the Tory and labour parties, is complicit in giving him a platform he doesn’t deserve. The Beeb (of which I am usually a passionate supporter) has been so intimidated by right wing politicos and their lackies in the press for so long that it now tries to appease Farage by over covering him. Presumably because he has said he will get rid of the licence fee if he gets into poi.
Note to BBC and Starmer. You don’t defeat fascists and racists by appeasing them. They have to be opposed, if necessary with force. As we learned in WW2. Just as the Beeb needs to stop giving his wretched party such coverage, so look labour need to call out Farage and his lies, and also make a positive case for immigration and the right to asylum.
Agreed
REFORM UK LTD support amongst 16-34yr olds is plummeting according to University of Exeter research
https://news.exeter.ac.uk/research/new-research-casts-doubt-on-reforms-appeal-to-young-people-and-shows-labour-faces-a-challenge-holding-on-to-youth-support/
Ooops!
Actually RUNNING their 12 councils seems to be challenging them a bit too, as does hanging on to their Councillors and MPs.
But then a bunch of failed company directors, fascist grifters, and inexperienced teenagers were always going to find real life difficult.
Democracy is so much more difficult than dishonest demogoguery.
This is very encouraging…
I helped deliver online Human Rights workshops during lockdown and fully appreciate the protection they give to people, especially vulnerable people. One of the biggest issues we hammered home to vulnerable people was to check their medical records to see if DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) had been added to their files during the covid era without their knowledge, which the government had encouraged. A blatant breach of Human Rights… but what do we only hear about from Farage and the likes? Stopping the boats.
Besides… we are signed up to a number of international human rights declarations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to name 2, they never mention about withdrawing from them all, just the ECHR because of the myth that it is to do with membership of the European Union – wrong, it has nothing to do with being a member of the EU.
You might find this interesting from (especially the 1 of the instruments we haven’t signed up to at the end) –
https://www.gov.scot/policies/human-rights/our-international-obligations/…
United Nations
There are nine core international human rights instruments, of which seven have been ratified by the UK:
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT)
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCR)
The two that the UK has not ratified are:
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Many thanks.
Reply to MarP
I too was incensed that Farage’s policy statement on the small boats was given top billing on the BBC today. What possible justification can there be for the BBC to prioritise the policy statement of a party with 4 MPs with the election 4 years away? Can the Green party be given top billing tomorrow just to mention Climate Change for a few minutes? It is of far greater significance. It is true that the item gave plenty of scope for criticism of Farage by other parties, but the damage was done. It does not matter that the policy is unworkable. Farage was allowed to tell the lie that there is a simple way to deal with this if we just get tough with foreigners and get rid of a few inconvenient European laws. That is what will be remembered. As to his claim that if the boats issue is not dealt with there will be social unrest, my blood boils. The only people whipping up social unrest over this are him and his ilk and boy are they milking it for what it is worth. I am about to write a letter to the BBC complaints department complaining about the BBC’s frequent party political broadcasts on behalf of Reform. Their news coverage of him is totally irresponsible. Why do they need to do it when he already has GB news?
Much to agree with
The UK has been formally investigated by both the U.N. Rapporteur for poverty, and the U.N. Rapporteur for the UNCRPD. The UK was declared to be acting in contravention of the UNCRPD in 2016, and is subject to formal reporting procedures. This was largely because of IDS’s “reforms” to the benefits system. The UK stands accused of “grave and systematic violations” of three Articles. In 2024, the UNCRPD reported that the UK’s actions were now “regressive”.
I was one of four representatives of disability groups who asked the UN Rapporteur for UNCRPD to intervene in the recent UC/PIP Bill. The UN wrote an urgent (and pretty bare-knuckled) letter to this Government stating that a reply was required by 11 August. The Government has not bothered to reply. Now another UN Committee intends to investigate the UK.
The UK is also in contravention of the ICESCR; the ICCPR (and the UN has highlighted this in writing); the CERD; the UNCEDAW; and the UNCRC.
This Government – repeatedly and knowingly – breaches the Geneva Conventions and ignores the ICJ rulings on Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank. It is deliberately facilitating genocide.
Finally, if the UK leaves the ECHR, the Good Friday Agreement will collapse, as the Agreement is founded on the ECHR.
Much to agree with
One small way of protecting human rights – it may seem futile but if we all do it…
Report every “St George” vandalised spraypainted roundabout/zebra crossing on fixmystreet (damage to community cohesion plus disrespect of national flag) and also report as crime of graffiti, online to local police, including reference to hate crime/race, and criminal damage to the crossing, and desecration of the national flag.
If we all shrug our shoulders the police can ignore it. If thousands of people fill in the online report forms, our concern may at least be noticed, on account of having to collate the reports.
Interesting idea
Thoughts, anyone else?
Update:
FixMyStreet:
Impossible to teport flags on lampost via website – no relevant category.
All graffiti reports re zebra crossings and mini-roundabouts rejected by “Bristol Waste” ????? (Our council owned waste collection/recycling company) using boilerplate garbage text about private property and inaccessibility (the public highway?) and marked for “no further action”. Option to complain via BCC complaints website (a black hole I have already been immersed in, for about 4 months on a painful personal matter, so no thanks, not again) or a phone number (menus, music & machine text?). I’ll give that a go before the weekend.
Reports to Police – crimes of criminal damage by red spray paint, with hate crime element relating to protected characteristic of race, reported. No response so far. Their site didn’t like my personal email domain but accepted it after a bit of trickery from me.
I am reminded of my digital privacy campaigning days when Home Office FOI handling was structured to wear out FOI requesters with a war of bureaucratic attrition. We kept going!
Keep going…
Update: I phoned Bristol City Council. The response to my zebra crossing graffiti report was admitted to be incorrect in all respects (private property/inaccessible/health and safety). Report now accepted but no change visible yet on website. https://www.fixmystreet.com/report/8087903
The response to my “flag half way up a lamp-post in the middle of a roundabout” report was “national guidance allows flags to be flown” so clearly that was a prepared response. It won’t do.
I expressed my feelings robustly, but politely, reassured the call handler I wasn’t criticising them, but promised the council publicity, and asked if “national guidance”, clearly happy about members of the public carrying ladders across a highway and shinning up a lamp-post to affix a flag, apparently without any health and safety or community cohesion concerns, would be as relaxed about members of the public carrying ladders across the highway at night and shinning up them to REMOVE the flags? Call handler didn’t have national guidance about that. I also asked them to reconsider the health and safety aspect of distractions on roundabouts that encouraged people to take their eyes of the road. No change visible on website. (My reports weren’t anonymous despite what the fixmystreet site says – I was logged in when making them.)
I can see some fruitful and time-wasting lines of enquiry trying to get legal advice out of the council about liability for either RTAs involving pedestrians carrying ladders and flags, or “falling off ladder” injuries/fatalities given that they appear to be condoning this activity. I wonder how many people have fallen off ladders in the BCC area, while either affixing or removing flags from lamp-posts? Do they have any national guidance on the use of ladders on pavements, or for carrying them across the public highway, especially at night? Should hard hats be worn? is there any necessary ladder safety course required? At what height does the flag present Health and Safety concerns? Can I affix a Russian or Palestinian or American flag?
Maybe Yvette Cooper could make it a terrorist offence?
I’ll only post again if I hear further from police or BCC or if action is taken.
When I think of the red tape involved in organising successful inclusive street parties (I’ve done a few, including putting bunting on lamp-posts), I wonder why I bothered…
I admire your persistence
I think it’s a very good idea. Let’s go for it.