Afua Hirsch is described as legal affairs correspondent for the Guardian. The same newspaper which claims Comment is free, and yet censors my comments by subjecting them to moderation and yet never gets around to moderating them! The same newspaper which allows people to verbally attack me but when I respond silences me! I have to ask, did she get the job because she is black (To paraphrase Da Ali G)? The Guardian being politically correct and employing its quota of ethnic minorities even if they have not got a clue what they are writing about?
UK bill of rights plan a 'bad idea', warns head of European court
Senior judge's remarks that human rights could be hit if act repealed threatens to inflame row over power of Strasbourg
Jean-Paul Costa said that returning the court to British rule would be a bad idea. Photograph: Vincent Kessler/ReutersI was under the impression that some time prior to the General Election some Tories had made noises about a British Bill of Rights. I don't think that a Bill of Rights is necessarily a bad idea, provided it does not contain the xenphobic "British" in front of it. Certainly, Ken Clarke is not in favour of it. Moreover, he has defended the HRA 1998 against rabid media attacks and knee-jerking politicians spewing out nonsensical soundbites. Given Afua Hirsch's so-called legal background, she should know that when writing about a statute it is thus Act and not thus act so as not to be confused with a person's conduct.
Beneath the photo of Jean-Paul Costa, it is reported that he said that "returning the court to British rule would be a bad idea". The ECtHR has never been under British rule. Surely, he would know its history? Did he actually say this, or is it the Guardian/Afua Hirsch making it up?
I am puzzled why Afua Hirsch has even bothered to report what Teresa May, the Home Secretary, has to say on the subject because legal responsibility for ensuring human rights rests with Kenneth Clarke, the Secretary of State for Justice.
As for Lord Hoffmann's ignorant criticisms, he wants to think himself lucky he was born in South Africa and not Germany because he could well have ended up in the gas chamber. I don't think people who were part of the ruling class in Apartheid South Africa should be giving us lessons on human rights!
Finally, "Next year the government will come under pressure to show support for protecting human rights in the UK, as it takes over the chair of the Council of Europe, the body responsible for implementing the European convention on human rights alongside the European court". It is not the Council of Europe which is responsible for implementing the Convention in Member States it is the Member States themselves which have that responsibility, and as we have seen, the UK fails badly in this respect. I am aware that it is planned that the UK takes over the chair of the Council of Europe next year. However, as my case is still outstanding after 5 years, I intend to ask Europe if the UK is fit for this purpose.
I note that there is no mention of when and where this so-called interview took place.
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