Tuesday:
I have ESP, you know – Elephant Special Powers – more on this story later…[*]
It is not often that I get to say something NICE about the Labour – it not often that they get something RIGHT! – so I will seize the opportunity with both fluffy front feet!
Lord Blairimort's chum the Lord Woolsack, also known as a proper Charlie, has been doing some GOOD for once, by deciding to stand up for the HUMAN RIGHTS ACT. And he is to be CONGRATULATED for it.
He has started with a Blitz on this "human rights nonsense" and now is saying how Human Rights help fight terror!
A LONG time ago, in 1950 in fact, Great (as we were then) Britain was one of the founding members of the Council of Europe and together with other nations of Europe agreed that there should be a UNIVERSAL PROTECTION of the Human Rights of all people.
And they set up a Court and signed a big long declaration to say they meant it.
Ever since then, ever since 1950 remember, you and me and every other person living in one of the nations who have joined the Convention have had our Human (and Elephant) Rights GUARANTEED and we have been able to appeal to the Court in Strasbourg to get those rights protected.
1950 is IMPOSSIBLY long ago! The Prime Minister and his goons are fond of saying that it was a DIFFERENT AGE. They could not have imagined the threats that we would face today, says Lord Blairimort.
Yes, he is RIGHT: just five years after fighting a WORLD WAR against all the might of the Axis WAR MACHINE which cost MILLIONS of lives, I think that the Council of Europe would have found it VERY DIFFICULT to imagine a time when the richest most powerful countries on the planet totally secure from the threat of conventional war, were nevertheless wetting themselves because they had been threatened by a sick old man hiding in a cave.
I think they'd find that VERY DIFFICULT to imagine INDEED!
Incidentally, Article 17 says specifically that you CANNOT use one of the Human Rights to try and limit or abolish another of the human rights. Possibly worth remembering every time one of those Labour Ministers starts saying "we must limit this Human Right to freedom from being flung into a dungeon without trial in order to secure the Human Right to not be blown up!"
They are BREAKING THE LAW when they say that!
Going to Strasbourg, though, is a LOT OF TROUBLE. It would be much easier if the Court in THIS COUNTRY could save you the bother by guaranteeing the same protections much closer to home. Well, in 1998 Lord Blairimort did something GOOD (he was very young at the time) and passed the Human Rights Act so that the Court in this country could do exactly that. Hooray! Save everyone a lot of time and bother.
(Actually, he did say that judges could not overturn those Acts of Parliament that are in conflict with the Convention, but only say "bother, that's in conflict with the Human Rights Convention" so sometimes you might STILL have to go to Strasbourg.)
Since then, though, the Human Rights act has become a bit of a CONVENIENT thing to blame when there is a COCK UP. Not least by, er, Lord Blairimort and his ministers.
The Conservatories too are very keen to pretend that all our woes flow from what is supposed to be the government making a promise not to abuse the people it works for. Blaming the Human Rights Act is the new POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAAAAAAAD. It is a MYTH, based on URBAN FAIRY STORIES and MISREPORTED anecdotes.
But it isn't half handy if you've got no excuses (if you're Lord Blairimort) or no policies (if you're Mr Balloon) and want a handy SCAPEGOAT.
In fact, Mr Balloon says he wants to abolish the Human Rights Act altogether. That would be RATHER POINTLESS, unless he is going to ask Mrs the Queen to tear up the treaty that she signed. We would still have those rights and the right to go back to Strasbourg and get them.
It makes you wonder about his commitment to civil liberties, when he says he won't stand by a promise to defend them, doesn't it!
Meanwhile, Lord Blairimort is keen to lock people up without trial on the say-so of trying so hard not to be out of his depth Home Secretary nice Mr Dr Reid.
"Lockses them up, my precious, in chainses and ironses." That sort of say-so.
It's about this point that someone trundles out the usual excuse…
"Oh, won't somebody think of the CHILDREN!"
…but it turns out we might not be very good at THAT either!
[*] In other news… the American's ESP lab to close!
…I bet they didn't see that coming. I did!
No comments:
Post a Comment