- Conference
- 2022 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2022
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the United Kingdom’s (UK) Conservative government’s decision not to proceed with replacement of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) with a Bill of Rights Bill. However, Conference is not fooled and is well aware of the Conservative’s intention either to repeal the HRA or even withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights (the Convention)) which was incorporated into UK Law by the HRA.
Disabled people and LGBT+ people rely on the HRA and the Convention Articles to protect hard won rights. Many disabled people have only been able to enforce their rights to independent living, to accessible public services and to a private life by taking legal action using the HRA. If the HRA is repealed, or the UK withdraws from the Convention, this avenue will no longer be open to us.
Article 14 of the Convention states: “the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such a sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.” The courts have interpreted “other status” to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation, transgender, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status as part of their remit to treat the Convention as a “living document.” This protection has been read and developed alongside Article 8 (Right to respect for private and family life), Article 10 (Freedom of expression) Article 11 (freedom of association) and Article 12 (Right to Marry).
Conference believes that the UK Government is poised for a right-wing ideological attack on human rights and the Convention that will disproportionately impact the most marginalised in society, including disabled and LGBT+ people. Claims that the Equality Act is alternative protection is flawed as this Act is underpinned by European Union (EU) law in the form of the Equal Treatment Directive. The UK Government intends to use Brexit to allow UK Parliament to amend primary legislation such as the Equality Act and other EU law to prevent the courts from using Convention rights to override parliamentary will. Hard won disability and LGBT+ rights will be dependent on the whim of the UK Government
The Conservative UK government seeks to use disingenuous arguments and weasel words to try to claim abolition of HRA and withdrawal from the Convention will restore the primacy of the UK Parliament when in fact, it will give the government more power to act with impunity, without protest, and without oversight.
Conference therefore calls on the national LGBT+ committee to:
1. Raise awareness of the threats posed to LGBT+ and disabled people’s rights through abolition of HRA and withdrawal from the Convention;
2. Work with Labour link to raise these issues in the UK Parliament and campaign with appropriate bodies to preserve Convention Rights.