Catriona Wheeler, Moderator of the United Reformed Church General Assembly, has added her voice to a statement in defence of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In total, 292 charities and organisations – including Amnesty, Shelter, Mind, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, and Parkinsons UK – have stated their support for the ECHR to remain enshrined in UK law.
The UK adopted the entirety of the ECHR into domestic law through the Human Rights Act 1998, but in recent years there has been political pressure, particularly from Reform UK and the Tories, to drop the ECHR in favour of a British Bill of Rights which would allow UK governments to pick and choose which human rights they wished to uphold and ignore.
Speaking to The Independent Sam Grant, Director of External Affairs at Liberty, which organised the statement, said: “There are people in powerful positions who want us to believe that we would be better off without the ECHR – don’t believe them.”
The ECHR was finalised on 4 November 1950, making this the 75th anniversary of this significant document. Developed in the aftermath of the Second World War, it aims to guarantee for all people rights such as:
- the right to life
- the right to free elections
- the right to a fair trial
- freedom of expression
- freedom of thought, conscience and religion
- freedom from torture
- freedom from discrimination.
The United Reformed Church General Assembly has consistently supported the freedoms protected by the ECHR but has never had cause to make statements on affirming or protecting the ECHR itself. Until recently, the Convention has felt secure as a bedrock of human rights for all individuals within the UK.
In 2024, the URC joined with the Methodist Church, Baptist Union and 262 other organisations calling for the government, at that time, to protect the rights of asylum seekers by upholding the ECHR. That statement closed with:
“Either we all have human rights, or none of us do. The government must not be allowed to pick and choose when our fundamental rights apply, nor to undermine the ways that we can hold it to account.”
Roo Stewart, URC Head of Public Issues, said: “The ECHR is good news for those seeking refuge in the UK, including Christians who would be persecuted if they were to be returned to their country of origin. It has also produced beneficial legislation for Christians who wish to wear religious symbols at work, women at risk of domestic abuse, and peaceful protestors whose right to privacy had been violated, as only a few examples.
“There is a dreadful history of abuses when governments around the world have exercised autonomy over what they consider to constitute human rights. By ensuring that the UK continues to be subject to international standards set outside of government policy and political convenience, with the consensus of careful consideration from multiple countries, the inhabitants of the United Kingdom can expect to live in continued freedom and safety.
“As we approach Remembrance Sunday, the circumstances that brought about such hard-won freedoms are sharpened in our thoughts and hearts once again, and I am glad that Catriona has added a URC voice to this statement.”
Image: Markus Spiske/Unsplash.