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The Tories have decided to “review” the UK’s human rights framework again – not to tackle immigration abuses, as they claim, but to shift power away from ordinary people and hand it to politicians who resent being restrained by legal checks and balances.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wants to launch a commission chaired by former justice minister Lord Wolfson to examine whether the UK should withdraw from key international treaties like the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and whether landmark domestic laws such as the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act, and the Climate Change Act should be repealed or rewritten.
She says this is about protecting the national interest.
Whose interest is that, exactly?
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about stopping a handful of convicted criminals from using the “right to family life” to delay deportation.
That problem — if it even qualifies as one — could be fixed with precise legislative amendments.
You don’t need to take a sledgehammer to the foundations of human rights law to address a few difficult cases. But the Tories want to.
Just click on the image, make your donation,
and provide your details!
The real agenda
What Badenoch and her allies are proposing isn’t legal reform — it’s regime change.
If they succeed in weakening or withdrawing from the ECHR, every citizen in the UK stands to lose the protections that prevent governments from overreaching:
- the right to a fair trial,
- to freedom of speech,
- to privacy,
- to protest,
- to be treated with dignity,
- even the right not to be tortured.
Their rhetoric focuses on foreign nationals and immigration. But look closer.
Badenoch says that international courts are obstructing government actions taken “in the national interest.”
Immigration is just the first domino.
If they can remove human rights from migrants, they can do it to anyone.
What they’re selling is not safety or sovereignty — it’s the idea that your rights should depend on political whim.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A smarter solution exists
There are ways to tighten up the use of Article 8 (right to family life) without ripping up the rulebook.
The government could pass legislation stating that serious criminal convictions — such as murder, terrorism, or rape — trigger a presumption of deportation.
Exceptions could be allowed, but only in extraordinary cases, like when deportation would risk torture (Article 3) or cause extreme harm to a dependent child.
Less serious offenses — like theft or fraud — could still allow courts to weigh family ties, but with a higher bar for overriding public safety.
The UK already has a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill going through Parliament.
That bill could be used right now to define and limit the scope of Article 8 claims in deportation cases.
There’s no need to leave the ECHR to do it — just clarify the law through Parliament, and courts will apply it.
Even deportation despite fear of torture (Article 3) could be allowed if the government obtains credible, enforceable guarantees from destination countries, as it did in the Abu Qatada case. That’s what responsible, lawful government looks like.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com</h4
Why aren’t they doing that?
The Conservative Party isn’t really interested in fixing a narrow problem with proportionate tools.
The Tories want a culture war.
They want to draw a line between themselves and Labour — not by offering better solutions, but by daring to say the unsayable: “Let’s scrap your human rights.”
It’s political theatre — and dangerous theatre at that.
They’re posturing, stirring fear, and laying the groundwork for a legal system where rights are conditional, and justice is optional.
Where’s the government?
Here’s the most frustrating part: Labour could cut this whole debate off at the knees by supporting clear reforms to Article 8.
Labour could define when it applies and when it doesn’t.
Labour could reinforce the message: human rights are not a shield for abusers, but a framework that balances compassion with security.
But so far, Labour has been cautious — perhaps too cautious. By failing to offer a strong counter-narrative, they leave the Tories free to frame the ECHR as a nuisance, not a cornerstone of civilized society.
Just click on the image, make your donation,
and provide your details!
What’s really at stake
We’ve been here before.
In 2014, the Tories floated plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a “British Bill of Rights.”
It sounded benign — patriotic, even — but the fine print was chilling: rights would become privileges, awarded by Parliament and withdrawn at will.
Protections against unlawful killing, forced labour, discrimination, and mass surveillance would be weakened or removed.
Make no mistake: this is not about making Britain safer.
It’s about making government less accountable.
If we let this happen, we will all be less free.
Not just the people you’re told to fear — migrants, criminals, outsiders — but you, your children, your community.
That’s the real “national interest” being trampled here.
So when Kemi Badenoch talks about tearing up treaties and “restoring control,” ask yourself: control for whom?
Share this post:
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Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
The Tory war on human rights isn’t about immigration – it’s about controlling YOU
Share this post:
The Tories have decided to “review” the UK’s human rights framework again – not to tackle immigration abuses, as they claim, but to shift power away from ordinary people and hand it to politicians who resent being restrained by legal checks and balances.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wants to launch a commission chaired by former justice minister Lord Wolfson to examine whether the UK should withdraw from key international treaties like the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and whether landmark domestic laws such as the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act, and the Climate Change Act should be repealed or rewritten.
She says this is about protecting the national interest.
Whose interest is that, exactly?
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about stopping a handful of convicted criminals from using the “right to family life” to delay deportation.
That problem — if it even qualifies as one — could be fixed with precise legislative amendments.
You don’t need to take a sledgehammer to the foundations of human rights law to address a few difficult cases. But the Tories want to.
Just click on the image, make your donation,
and provide your details!
The real agenda
What Badenoch and her allies are proposing isn’t legal reform — it’s regime change.
If they succeed in weakening or withdrawing from the ECHR, every citizen in the UK stands to lose the protections that prevent governments from overreaching:
Their rhetoric focuses on foreign nationals and immigration. But look closer.
Badenoch says that international courts are obstructing government actions taken “in the national interest.”
Immigration is just the first domino.
If they can remove human rights from migrants, they can do it to anyone.
What they’re selling is not safety or sovereignty — it’s the idea that your rights should depend on political whim.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A smarter solution exists
There are ways to tighten up the use of Article 8 (right to family life) without ripping up the rulebook.
The government could pass legislation stating that serious criminal convictions — such as murder, terrorism, or rape — trigger a presumption of deportation.
Exceptions could be allowed, but only in extraordinary cases, like when deportation would risk torture (Article 3) or cause extreme harm to a dependent child.
Less serious offenses — like theft or fraud — could still allow courts to weigh family ties, but with a higher bar for overriding public safety.
The UK already has a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill going through Parliament.
That bill could be used right now to define and limit the scope of Article 8 claims in deportation cases.
There’s no need to leave the ECHR to do it — just clarify the law through Parliament, and courts will apply it.
Even deportation despite fear of torture (Article 3) could be allowed if the government obtains credible, enforceable guarantees from destination countries, as it did in the Abu Qatada case. That’s what responsible, lawful government looks like.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com</h4
Why aren’t they doing that?
The Conservative Party isn’t really interested in fixing a narrow problem with proportionate tools.
The Tories want a culture war.
They want to draw a line between themselves and Labour — not by offering better solutions, but by daring to say the unsayable: “Let’s scrap your human rights.”
It’s political theatre — and dangerous theatre at that.
They’re posturing, stirring fear, and laying the groundwork for a legal system where rights are conditional, and justice is optional.
Where’s the government?
Here’s the most frustrating part: Labour could cut this whole debate off at the knees by supporting clear reforms to Article 8.
Labour could define when it applies and when it doesn’t.
Labour could reinforce the message: human rights are not a shield for abusers, but a framework that balances compassion with security.
But so far, Labour has been cautious — perhaps too cautious. By failing to offer a strong counter-narrative, they leave the Tories free to frame the ECHR as a nuisance, not a cornerstone of civilized society.
Just click on the image, make your donation,
and provide your details!
What’s really at stake
We’ve been here before.
In 2014, the Tories floated plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a “British Bill of Rights.”
It sounded benign — patriotic, even — but the fine print was chilling: rights would become privileges, awarded by Parliament and withdrawn at will.
Protections against unlawful killing, forced labour, discrimination, and mass surveillance would be weakened or removed.
Make no mistake: this is not about making Britain safer.
It’s about making government less accountable.
If we let this happen, we will all be less free.
Not just the people you’re told to fear — migrants, criminals, outsiders — but you, your children, your community.
That’s the real “national interest” being trampled here.
So when Kemi Badenoch talks about tearing up treaties and “restoring control,” ask yourself: control for whom?
Share this post:
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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