Paul James Cardwell Profile picture
Sep 13, 2020 11 tweets 3 min read Read on X
A few further thoughts on the government’s HRA/ECHR story in the Telegraph this morning. And whether I should even bother to give further thoughts. /1
As @AdamWagner1 and others have said, this isn’t new. May wanted out of the ECHR, Raab is a long term opponent etc etc. An 80 seat majority does make a difference though, making it more of a potential reality. /2
And the same defenders of the Good Friday Agreement will point out the centrality of the HRA in ensuring peace. Ditto other MPs such as @joannaccherry who have consistently sought UK govt to remain publicly committed to it. /3
The long term commitment to replace the HRA (framed nowadays as ‘Labour’s HRA - and not in a complimentary way) with a ‘British Bill of Rights’ has gone nowhere, since there is little idea of what that means. /4
Except of course to remove/restrict rights from the usual targets of the ‘undeserving’: immigrants, criminal suspects, anyone who doesn’t like the govt and supported by ‘activist’ lawyers. /5
So, the chance of a ‘British Bill of Rights’ seems pretty low. And the attack again on the HRA night go away when there is something else to point the finger at (probably migration again). /6
Which begs the question: should we (again) be outraged and rise to the occasion when nothing might happen, pointing out that the UK drafted much of ECHR, first to sign, not part of EU, if we withdraw what chance for others to obey etc? /7
The answer is yes we should: any changes to our human rights protections need to be as open as possible in terms of what that means. No other country would seriously consider the ‘advantage’ of withdrawing (or ‘opting out’) or human rights law. /8
These are the protections for all those in the UK and it is unconscionable that removing rights for some is in any way a good idea. /9
So, frustrating as it is to deal with tired arguments about how the HRA is used as a tool for activist lawyers and judges to allow the undeserving to cheat the system (I paraphrase but only a little) then we have to keep going. /10
If we don’t, then the consequences are serious. And if that means falling into the trap of being outraged by those who seek to deliberately do so, then so be it. /END

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Paul James Cardwell

Paul James Cardwell Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Cardwell_PJ

Aug 4, 2021
Just listened to the Universities minister, Michelle Donelan, on @BBCr4today @BBCRadio4 #r4today talking about #Turingscheme. Some thoughts, in addition to my comments in the @guardian this morning: theguardian.com/education/2021… /1
Universities are being told if their bids have been successful today. The headline number is that 40,000 UK students are able to go abroad, compared with 28,000 previously under Erasmus. However, that 40,000 relates to the bids, not actual students as per the Erasmus figure. /2
Therefore, these are not like for like. When pressed about actual numbers going, she said they 'will' be going, and to 150 countries. In my opinion, this is unrealistic for several reasons and does not account for the reality of organising exchanges within such a short space. /3
Read 15 tweets
Dec 27, 2020
Lots more to say on #Erasmus and 'replacement' #turingscheme. Students in Northern Ireland may still have access thanks to the Irish government. What about Scotland or Wales? Some considerable barriers here to think about. /1 independent.ie/irish-news/nor…
Erasmus is an EU programme. It is established by a Regulation: a law covering the scope, how the programme works, funding etc over a 7 year period (2014-20). Higher Ed exchanges and Jean Monnet are the best known but also vocational training etc. /2 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/…
Participation from non-EU states is possible (Art 24). Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein are in the European Economic Area; Switzerland needs a bilateral agreement. I assume UK would need to be listed similarly to Switzerland in the new Regulation if it wanted to be in. /3
Read 11 tweets
Dec 26, 2020
Some details about the #turingscheme as a replacement for #Erasmus are now out. Here are my initial thoughts, from an institutional and education perspective more than costs. /1
First, setting up a scheme to run in 2021 is difficult and especially for those already in degree programmes who were due to go on Erasmus placements (language students in particular). Setting up non-Erasmus agreements with Universities takes many months of bureaucracy. /2
I know because I've done this: whilst some Unis can move quickly, getting an agreement from a Uni in, say, the USA is tricky. Why? Needs to be interest from other side to receive *and send* students, which there may or may not be. Bespoke contract, Uni committees etc. /3
Read 24 tweets
Dec 24, 2020
Lots of discussion on #Erasmus, and rightly so. It is close to my heart, as a former participant (Lille, France), and the coordinator of a Uni department that expanded to take full advantage for our students (22 countries, 100+ going each year). /1
It was always a risk it would be lost, even with assurances by Johnson as recently as this year (see @AlexTaylorNews). May's 'red line' on free movement set the tone: Erasmus cannot be fully separated. I wrote as much in 2017. /2 timeshighereducation.com/blog/uk-studen… @timeshighered
As the risk of 'no deal' loomed in 2017, I returned to this theme. On both these occasions, I faced Brexiter criticism for (a) suggesting that it would/could end (b) it is not that important and (c) 'Global Britain' means students can go elsewhere. /3 prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/what-wou…
Read 7 tweets
Dec 24, 2020
As @AndrewSparrow at the @guardian points out, Johnson led Vote Leave and then wrote the following in the Telegraph after the referendum result. Line by line analysis of the key part?: /1 theguardian.com/p/fptqf/stw
"I cannot stress too much that Britain is part of Europe, and always will be."

Well, he can't change geography, but the centre of gravity in politics and economics in Europe is not in the UK, and the UK is relegated to the periphery with a very limited relationship to the EU. /2
"There will still be intense and intensifying European cooperation and partnership in a huge number of fields: the arts, the sciences, the universities, and on improving the environment."

No: no partnership and none will intensify. Env only because EU insistence on LPF? /3
Read 9 tweets
Dec 15, 2020
I have sent many students on exchange to all these countries, and to about 20 European countries covered by ErasmusPlus. A worthwhile experience for all but the idea of replacing #ErasmusPlus exchanges with Aus/NZ/Canada comes with problems: /1
First, an 'exchange' is reciprocal. So you need approx same numbers of students coming in coming as you do in going out. NZ/Canada/Aus all smaller than UK: so for this to work, all those students interested in an exchange must want to come to the UK over anywhere else. /2
Likely? Not so much. Many will want to go to non-English speaking destinations, including in Europe and Asia. UK often seen as too 'obvious' a choice in my experience. So the UK is going to be limited in scope for partnerships. /3
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(