Unlock Democracy welcomes Parliamentary call for Bill of Rights and Freedoms
Commenting on the publication of the Joint Committee on Human Rights report A Bill of Rights for the UK?, Deputy Director of Unlock Democracy Alexandra Runswick said:
“We enthusiastically welcome this contribution to the debate around human rights and freedoms. In particularly we warmly agree with the Committee’s view that rights should not be contingent on individuals fulfilling social responsibilities. This is a clear refutation of the Labour and Conservative support for a ‘Bill of Rights and Responsibilities’.
“The Committee’s proposals for including social and economic rights in a Bill of Rights is interesting and worthy of further investigation. The exact content of the final Bill should be the result of a bottom-up process of engagement and deliberation with the wider public however and on this point the Committee’s call for such engagement to be independent of government is important.
“For a Bill of Rights to be a genuine guarantor of our rights however, it must ultimately be entrenched in a written constitution and treated differently from other pieces of legislation. If it is not then it will be at risk every time there is a crisis. At the very least, the House of Commons should not be able to bypass the House of Lords through use of the Parliament Act when seeking to amend our fundamental rights.”
ENDS
1. Unlock Democracy, incorporating Charter 88, is the UK’s leading campaign for democracy, rights and freedoms.
2. For more information, a quote or an interview, please contact James Graham on 020 7278 4443 / 07966 237550 / james.graham@unlockdemocracy.org.uk
-01.png){kind=spacer}