Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ksrm 4637 days ago
It's times like this that I'm very glad the ECHR exists.
2 comments
cabalamat 4637 days ago
It is perhaps not surprising that the government wants to scrap it -- http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/sep/30/conservitives-scr...
link
arethuza 4637 days ago
I was a bit vague on the European Convention on Human Rights - this article from the BBC is quite good:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/948143.stm

One particularly interesting point:

"The UK was one of the first members of the Council of Europe to ratify the Convention when it passed through Parliament in 1951."

Indeed, Chruchill seems to have been very keen on the idea - how ironic!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009...

link
GunlogAlm 4637 days ago
If UKIP had their way, we wouldn't be in the European Union or Council of Europe and would be withdrawn from the Human Rights Convention.
link
lmm 4637 days ago
Yeah, but UKIP are nutters.
link
DanBC 4637 days ago
True, but sadly they are popular nutters.

Daly with UK voter turn out being so low (between 60% and 70%) it's not so hard to grab some votes, especially if you spew the kind of stuff that UKIP spew.

It'd be interesting to see some vigorous modelling with different amounts of UKIP influence to see what happens (in the fictitious model).

(http://ukpolitical.info/turnout45.htm)

link
gadders 4637 days ago
Yeah, because being against a corrupt, unelected organisation that can't even get its own accounts signed off due to corruption and fraud. What a crazy position to take.
link
yrro 4636 days ago
http://fullfact.org/factchecks/has_eu_budget_rejected_audito...
link
cobrophy 4637 days ago
Nutters that are becoming increasingly popular.
link
spongle 4637 days ago
Indeed. The problem Is that nutters vote nutters in.

A big chunk of the UK consists of nutters. Look at the EDL for example. I've lived places where idiots like that are worshipped.

Thoroughly depressing.

link
arethuza 4637 days ago
I don't think UKIP have much support here in Scotland - I suspect most people see them as the "Little Englander" party:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/why-ukip-ha...

link
gadders 4637 days ago
Well, if the SNP had had their way you'd be in the Euro instead.
link
gadders 4637 days ago
And a good thing too. That way prisoners wouldn't get the vote, we'd be able to deport terrorists etc etc.

I can't see any additional rights that I have that I didn't have before it became part of British law. All I see are dis-benefits.

link
ksrm 4637 days ago
>That way prisoners wouldn't get the vote

Why is this a good thing? Prisoners are still citizens. Disenfranchising them only serves to further alienate them from society.

Time and again the ECHR has served as an important check on breaches of the European Convention by the UK. But a few examples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_and_Grady_v_United_Kingdo...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunders_v_United_Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Bournewood_Community_and_Me...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutherland_v_United_Kingdom

link
SideburnsOfDoom 4637 days ago
Ok, I'll bite. What are the dis-benefits?

Which human rights do you specifically want to lose?

link