Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights

Leaving the ECHR would:

• Worsen UK relations with EU: It would likely lead to the suspension of essential parts of the Brexit Deal resulting in massive economic damage 
• It would damage the UK’s  ability to champion international law and influence states with long records of human rights violations. It could  potentially embolden them to go further.
• Put the UK alongside Russia and Belarus as the only European countries not party to the Convention.
• Violate the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) which explicitly invokes the role of the ECHR and subjects any legislation passed by the NI Assembly to ECHR rulings. The GFA entitles all people in NI to the protection of the ECHR and this was an essential inclusion to reach a settlement after decades of conflict which saw human rights abuses by both the UK Government and paramilitaries. 

Previous reactive lines: 

Naomi Smith: “The government that damaged livelihoods, crippled businesses and tore families apart through Brexit are now coming for our rights and freedoms by giving ministers power to ignore the rule of law. The ECHR protects the rights of everyone in the UK. Undermining it will have repercussions far beyond anything the government can foresee.”