As a Liberal Democrat member*, I’m proud of the fact that our party is in government, with ministers making tough choices about the UK.
While most attention is on electoral reform and tuition fees, I want to steer your attention towards foreign policy. In the Foreign Office there is one Lib Dem minister, Jeremy Browne MP. He takes the responsibility in the FCO for human rights policy among other things.
Mr Browne recently made an excellent Q&A video on YouTube last month, focussing on the UK’s action on promoting foreign policy abroad:
It’s encouraging to see a minister directly answering questions, especially with Browne’s optimistic tone. One can tell that the UK has a positive stance on promoting human rights abroad, helped by the fact that we have a Lib Dem in this position.
Another common denominator within the video is realism. Browne’s emphasis on checking progress shows good sense, with the 2010 report on human rights prioritising countries based on the degrees of turmoil.
On homosexual rights, he says that ‘people should be able to love who they want, live their lives as they see fit, it’s not for the state to tell them those things.’ Indeed, gay rights campaigner David Kato was murdered for his views, with the national press in Uganda condemning homosexuality as a ‘national scandal’. The only scandalous thing here is a national newspaper ‘reporting’ this sort of nonsense:
Since the mid-20th century the Lib Dems (as the Liberal Party) have promoted gay rights, and it’s heartening to know that, as a government, we’re doing work abroad to stop regimes from clamping down on homosexuality. Indeed, religion is a barrier to full gay rights in some countries, but I hope that with time this can change.
It’s inspiring to see in the last couple of days that Ugandan gay activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera has been given the prestigious Martin Ennals rights award. International pressure should hopefully guide Africa towards great rights for homosexuals. (In addition, see gayuganda.blogspot.com for inspiring words on promoting gay rights in Africa.)
Browne touches on a more subtle issue, where society impinges on human rights where de jure the law does not. I spoke to a Kenyan student last year at my university, who said he was ‘horrified’ by the amount of gay integration in the UK. In his home country, being gay comes with enormous social stigma, and won’t win you many friends. It’s these sorts of problems that the UK should be providing leadership on.
‘Gradually bringing about change’ is a phrase that particularly strikes me in this video. It’s indicative of Lib Dem influence on human rights policy in government, with Browne ensuring that people in other countries enjoy the same abundance of rights that we do in the UK. Let’s hope that the trend continues.
*Update July 2011: Jonathan Baldie has since ceased to be a member of the Liberal Democrats.
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6 Comments
nice article but there are other things on my mind at the moment like Clegg still running the party after he has destroyed it
On behalf of my gender-variant (transsexual, transgender, and intersex) abused peers… particularly on Bermuda, where as British passport holders, with the right of abode in the UK, we enjoy the same human rights protection extended our gender-variant peers while here in the UK, but not on our own British overseas territory where we can still be discriminated against with impunity… it is shameful that the FCO in this day age still fails to recognise and proactively act on the fact that sexual-orientation and gender-identity are individually separate and distinct entities… discrete entities that particularly require legislating on as such not only Bermuda’s, but other British Overseas Territories’ present gender-variant omissive Human Rights Laws… as a postoperative male-to-female transsexual person driven with impunity beyond Bermuda’s socio-economic pale some twenty-one years ago the alternative now for a British overseas territory failing to favourably enact such legislations should be their unilaterally UK imposed independence—end of story…
Hi Dave and Brenda,
Thanks for your comments. I think that in today’s world, human rights are more important than ever. We’re on the brink of achieving equality for women, gays and abolishing the death penalty worldwide.
Brenda, that indeed is a gradient in fairness, where we can be more free in one country than the one our nationality is more associated with. I’m something of a libertarian, and hope that in good time there comes true understanding of the social implications sometimes brought upon transsexual individuals.
It’s a shame that human rights and civil liberties for us here in the UK have been forgotten (IMO) by the LDs since the formation of the Coalition. You’ve said nothing about the increasingly heavy-handed tactics of the police. Arresting squatters because they “might” commit a crime. I don’t think “pre-crime” arrests are very British. Arresting republicans in Soho Square because monarchists “might be offended” isn’t very pluralist. Plain clothes “snatch squads” were also in operation during the royal wedding weekend. I am not being hyperbolic; all three of these examples have been uploaded, in video form, to YouTube. Yet there’s been nothing but silence from the LDs. Which is a shame, as only a year ago you used to be the true champions of civil liberties in the country. Now it seems the Greens are the only party speaking out against questionable police tactics.
Greetings, Jonathan..,
For many a year having lobbied not only Bermuda powers-that-be, but more so the UK’s… this staunch—now 78-year-young—left-of-centre Lib Dem member who optimistically hoped to no avail for the day when gender-variant folk would enjoy equality and protection not only here in Britain but on Bermuda… today is not impressed with a Lib Dem minister responsible for FCO human rights agenda echoing empty rhetoric she’s similarly heard from previous governments during the years of her human rights advocacy… to me there is something total wrong when a UK Gender Recognition Act 2004 gender certificated person can be discriminated against at will on Britain’s own overseas territories and the now Clegeron government like its predecessors blissfully does nowt about it…
Hi Squeedle,
The main focus of my article was human rights abroad rather than the UK, which is why I didn’t cover issues closer to home. I understand though that there are issues in the UK where police have been accused of heavy-handed tactics, but I wouldn’t like to comment too much on an issue that I’m not as informed on as foreign affairs.
Brenda you raise a very good point with the Gender Recognition Act too. Remember that although it was around seven years ago, society takes much much longer to shift than the law, as I allude to in my article. I only hope that there comes a time when someone can walk down the street and there be no hushed talk about his race, sexuality or other appearance.