ECHR stands for European Convention on Human Rights.
The ECHR is part of the aftermath of World War 2. Europe was in ruins. Two totalitarian regimes had run roughshod over most of the continent of Europe.
By 1945, the only countries in Europe which had not been subjected to dictatorial or military government were Switzerland, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland.
In 1939, Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia carved up Poland, thereby not only inflicting untold human suffering, but storing up conflict for what would be the bloodiest war in human history.
One man forged the military alliance that tipped the balance in that struggle. That man was Winston Churchill. Churchill forged the Grand Alliance between the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America.
That is arguably the most significant act of Twentieth-century history. Winston Churchill was a Conservative (and a National Liberal). I am a socialist. Churchill was also a racist. But I acknowledge that the mere fact that I am saying this at all, and the fact that I am writing it in English, is a tribute to Churchill’s Grand Alliance.
In the aftermath of World War Two, Churchill looked at the ruins of Europe, and he pronounced that there needed to be a mechanism to prevent this continent-wide disaster from happening again.
What he contributed to became the European Convention on Human Rights.
The articles of the Convention were largely drafted by British lawyers.
If you are unlucky enough to be a right wing extremist, you should still regard the UK’s membership of the ECHR as important, for the following reasons:
1. We thought of it
2. It is part of Churchill’s legacy
3. If we leave it, we will look even more stupid on the global stage than we already do, which is really saying something.
The ECHR is a fairly recent example of British exclusivity: we granted to the crushed Europe the benefit of our Yoeman freedom, despite the fact that one of the 1940 democracies (the Republic of Ireland) had been occupied by our troops until at least 1916. We also undertook (with the USA) a military occupation of Iceland, and threatened to declare war on Finland.
If you are a right wing #Konseяvativs MP, you should be trying to protect Churchill’s legacy.
Unless, of course, you would feel more comfortable by taking down that picture of a Spitfire on your office wall, and replace it with a picture of a Messerschmitt.
If you don’t feel comfortable about the Messerschmitt thing, but you still want the UK to withdraw from the ECHR, you could also find a statue of Churchill in Central London, and just urinate on it, in order to convey your opinion of Churchill’s legacy.
The only countries in Europe which have not ratified the ECHR are Belarus and Russia. If the UK were to abandon the convention, then Turkey under Erdoğan would be still be a signatory, but the UK would not.
The door to complete pariah status is open. Let us not walk through it.
iamhyperlexic 