Imagine living in a country where the government could just shove you in prison whenever it felt like it. And once they had you in their clutches, subjected you to cruel and degrading torture.
There are plenty people who don’t value their vote enough to use it, but imagine if we didn’t have it at all.
What if we weren’t allowed to voice opinions that were out of step with our rulers? Or assemble to protest against their decisions.
Anyone who has been brought up in this country will most likely not have had any direct experience of the things I’ve mentioned above. We need to keep our eyes open, though, and look at what is happening to so many others around the world.
The human rights which have been enshrined in our law and which the Tories and UKIP mock are the foundation stones of a civilised society. We need to do everything we can to preserve the rights we have and to ensure that others around the world have the same rights.
Today is Human Rights Day when we celebrate the UN Charter for Human Rights. Tim Farron recognised the day in a tweet.
On #humanrightsday we remember the intrinsic equal value, importance & diversity of every world citizen. Every person’s rights are our own.
— Tim Farron (@timfarron) December 10, 2016
Our ALDE friends reminded us what our rights are and told us to demand them for ourselves and others.
Don’t take human rights for granted. Know them. Demand them. Even if you’re fortunate enough to have them someone else isn’t #HumanRightsDay pic.twitter.com/wzSLW6HadS
— ALDE Group (@ALDEgroup) December 10, 2016
And Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary ask retailers not to advertise in publications that spread hatred and prejudice.
#Standup4HumanRights on #HumanRightsDay and #StopFundingHate by telling retailers to stop advertising in UK media stirring hatred & myths https://t.co/wfJwF1x500
— LD4SOS (@LD4SOS) December 10, 2016
Go through that list and imagine living without each right and what that would mean. This is a day when we should all re-dedicate ourselves to preserving and extending human rights across the world.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social
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3 Comments
‘What if we weren’t allowed to voice opinions that were out of step with our rulers? Or assemble to protest against their decisions.
Anyone who has been brought up in this country will most likely not have had any direct experience of the things I’ve mentioned above. ‘
Well, up to a point. You might get a different answer from a member of an ethnic or religious group in which a terrorist organisation has based itself.
Which is why it is important to be vigilant about encroachments on liberty. Sometimes they are sold to us as necessary for some emergency, without acknowledgement of their downsides; we must be aware of them as a bad thing, even when they have to be accepted for practical reasons. This also implies that they should come with a sunset clause, so that their continuation has to be shown to be necessary from time to time.
Loss of liberty is like boiling a frog. When the pot of water with a live frog is first put on the heat, the early temperatures are within the normal range; when it starts to heat up, the cold-blooded frog still adapts, but later, when it realises the heat is intolerable, it is too late to jump out and it dies a nasty death.
That is an analogy that is both horrible and apt, Ian.
Very good , Caron , thank you for this , it, as so many of the worthwhile named days gets little publicity .
What a shambles Corbyn had of it , with the demo by Tatchell and friends.
Hard to know what to think of it . But a distraction from an important focus , that sort of agro in the Labour party !