Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 01:31 pm
René Cassin, a Jewish human rights charity, has written to Conservative Party Chairman Greg Hands MP to remind him of the history and importance of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This comes as several senior Conservatives have suggested the UK withdraw from the Convention.
In the letter, Executive Director Mia Hasenson-Gross highlights the role the Convention has played in rebuilding a peaceful and stable Europe after the Second World War, and that it was written by a British Conservative lawyer and supported by Winston Churchill.
Ms. Hasenson-Gross also warns that withdrawal would threaten peace in Northern Ireland, destabilise the Union with Scotland, and see the UK isolated in Europe. She notes that the Convention is particularly important in protecting minority communities and says those calling for the UK to withdraw from it are “reckless and irresponsible”.
Ms. Hasenson-Gross commented: “The European Convention on Human Rights has underpinned individual liberties in the UK for 70 years. Those calling for the UK to withdraw from the Convention are reckless and irresponsible. Even if they are careless about individual liberties, dismissive of minority rights, and ignorant of the history behind the Convention, they should think twice about advocating a policy that could threaten peace in Northern Ireland, break up the UK, and leave Britain in a ‘club’ with Russia and Belarus.”
For further information, contact Ms. Hasenson-Gross at mia.hasenson-gross@renecassin.org; 07939 130 286.
