1/8 The UK government plans to replace the #HumanRightsAct with a #BillofRights. The UK government wants to bypass full legislative scrutiny by Parliament. This is bad news.
@HRW today joined 150 organizations today asking the Justice Secretary to think again.
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2/8 Our friends @libertyhq have shepherded more than 150 groups and individuals who lead on human rights in the UK, to say clearly -- in one voice -- to the government that a change that is so fundamental should not be rushed through without full scrutiny. libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/what-are…
3/8 The full letter text is here: libertyhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/upl…
The closing line puts it very clearly: "We urge the Government to respect the principles of our parliamentary democracy and subject the
proposed Bill of Rights to the pre-legislative scrutiny it clearly requires."
4/8 The @Guardian has a good brief write up of the letter and the concerns here: theguardian.com/law/2022/jun/2….
It is really worrying that a rearrangement of "the pecking order of rights" based on misplaced, ideologically-motivated concerns about "wokery" can be rushed into law.
5/8 We're not alone in stating these concerns. Not one but *FOUR* Parliamentary committee chairs have written to the Justice Secretary to express their disappointment and to urge a rethink. The devolved governments aren't happy either. committees.parliament.uk/publications/2…
6/8 @HRW's submission to the Ministry of Justice's earlier consultation on these proposals is here: hrw.org/news/2022/03/0….
In retrospect, I wonder if I should have just stopped drafting after the first paragraph.
7/8 It's worth recalling that the government effectively forgot about a whole set of people with disabilities being included in the consultation. Oops. A startling oversight. So much for everyone's human rights mattering. This piece with @SubhajitSaha97 hrw.org/news/2022/03/0…
8/8 In this year's Queen's Speech, the plan for the Bill of Rights followed on from a statement of principle in defence of the constitution.
The government will show how empty that commitment is if it chooses to bypass full legislative scrutiny.
gov.uk/government/spe…
* yes, I mistakenly typed "today" twice in the first tweet. Then seven more followed, making it impossible to go back and edit the first one.
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