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Arghhh! Jeremy Corbyn just said on #Marr that the European Court of Human Rights is "in part an EU institution". It isn't! It's a totally separate institution, arising from a separate treaty which well pre-dates the EU and would remain in place whatever version of Brexit
This really is very basic @jeremycorbyn - the European Court of Human Rights isn't part of the EU. Here's a handy explainer from @rights_info on the topic but you really should know this! rightsinfo.org/whats-differen…
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info Here's a helpful infographic also from @rights_info which shows the history of the European Court of Human Rights which was established in 1959 (well before the European Union) rightsinfo.org/infographics/h… 
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info Here's a video @rights_info made earlier - it's only 2 minutes so really anyone can watch and digest
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info This was all part of a section where Corbyn was suggesting we should trust Labour to put human rights first. I do trust Labour far more than the Tories but the detail is going to have to be left to @Keir_Starmer because Corbyn seems not to have a clue
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info @Keir_Starmer One of the reasons we are here is our 'leaders' failed to bother to grasp the detail of what the EU actually is.
The right wing press have been *deliberately* confusing the EU and the ECHR for years to sow discontent
It's not good enough - politicians should educate themselves
The right wing press have been *deliberately* confusing the EU and the ECHR for years to sow discontent
It's not good enough - politicians should educate themselves
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info @Keir_Starmer I set up a whole organisation to deal with these myths. I'm sick of politicians saying they stand up for human rights but not bothering to ensure they understand the most basic aspects of our protections rightsinfo.org/infographics/t…
@jeremycorbyn @rights_info @Keir_Starmer 1/ I want to say a bit more about this as it has gone a bit viral. I entirely accept I am not a huge fan of Jeremy Corbyn and so I run the risk of selecting only the bad bits of this section of the interview. I am as prone to motivated reasoning as anyone else
2/ In this section of the interview, Corbyn was saying that Labour would preserve human rights protections after Brexit, including the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This should be welcomed
3/ Indeed, whatever I think about Corbyn himself, I am certain that the European Convention (which Theresa May wants to leave in the long term) and the Human Rights Act (which the Tories want to replace with a 'Bill of Rights') would be safer under a Labour government
4/ I also accept that it may appear I am 'nitpicking' about Corbyn saying that European Convention is "in part an EU institution". In my defence, I have been banging on about these this for many years, including many many times cirticising right wing press and Tory politicians
5/ The reason I have always said it was important (e.g. this which I said in 2013) is that the press and politicians have often deliberately conflated the European Convention and EU, and the effect is that the public is highly confused, which on a topic like this can be poison
6/ I assume Corbyn was confused not deliberately conflating but it does make a difference as he is asking people to trust Labour to sort this all out and protect our rights...we partly in this mess because the public blamed the EU for far more than it was responsible for
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