Write for us!Human rights
Why World Government Would Be a Bad Idea
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In 1964, the Labour Party manifesto declared an aspiration for a single world government Labour always regarded the cold war strategies as a second best, forced on us by Russia’s obstinacy and remained faithful to its long-term belief in the establishment of east-west co-operation as the basis for a strengthened United Nations developing towards world government. World Government is not a mainstream idea in UK politics – and I can’t imagine today’s Labour Party going there. But within liberal and progressive circles, there’s some sympathy for the concept, presumably motivated by that liberal sense of internationalism and a desire to…
Sex and Gender – an Extended Essay
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So given the recent article “Identity is a human right” (Liberal Voices – George Cooper – 24 June) – I thought I would put my thoughts down on the sex and gender debate here. In this case from what I have called myself Phronetic Liberalism. Liberalism is an influence, but so are some other philosophical strands – from Ancient Greece and Rome, Mills Utilitarianism and William James Pragmatism. My starting point is that any conclusions must consider the practical outcomes for businesses and people in real life. This reflects the influence of Pragmatism in my framework. From this starting point,…
Identity Is a Human Right
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Let’s stop dancing around the issue: yes, we have a vestigial biology, but what actually defines us is language. We live in a world created by language and it is in that world we must find our authentic selves. It’s the key thing that is essential for living a full, normal life. Gender Identity is what our true selves are – something we need to get in touch with because what matters is the recognition that it gives us in society. Luke Easley, of Center for Global Development (CDC), hit the nail on the head when he said, “Identity is…
Why I No Longer Wear a Poppy
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My father served in the RAF, reaching Senior Warrant Officer level. My brother gave thirty years leaving with the rank of NCO. Between them, they accumulated almost half a century of service to this country. When they needed support in later life, they left with navigating the casework systems of SSAFA and the Royal British Legion, filling in forms, waiting for assessments, proving their need to charity volunteers. This is what the military covenant looks like in practice, for most of those who actually served. I no longer wear a poppy. I want to explain why, because the decision is…
Liberal Democrats – It’s Time to Campaign for What We Believe In – Amend the Equality Act and Remove Sex as a Protected Characteristic
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Editor’s note: This article was submitted anonymously. George Cooper is a pseudonym. He informed me that the article was previously submitted to another Liberal Democrat supporting website but he was told that it would not be published if he did not reveal his name. He is unable to do this. After reading the article, I decided to publish it in the interest of open debate. At Liberal Voices we aim to showcase all strands of opinion in the party. It could be argued that the views in the article are close to reductio ad absurdum. That is for you to…
Immigration in the 21st Century: A Fair and Humane Approach
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In recent years, the debate on immigration in the UK has been plagued by the following issues: its alleged impact on public services due it being ‘too high’, the daily illegal boat crossings and the most contentious issue of them all, arguments that detention seekers are afforded too much protection by international human rights law – which guarantees the right to liberty and prohibits arbitrary arrest. Consecutive governments most notably, the recent Conservative one, have talked tough on immigration without reducing overall numbers, or explaining clearly how they are made up (prime example – on average 35% of immigrants, are…
The New EHRC Code Demonstrates Why Sex‑Based Laws Need a Root‑and‑Branch Review
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Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, have recently written to Bridget Phillipson protesting the publication of the EHRC’s new Code of Practice for the Equality Act 2010 and declaring it not fit for purpose. Quite how balanced the evidence base was in reaching this conclusion is unclear. Nevertheless, their letter calls for the need for post-legislative scrutiny of the Gender Recognition Act and the Equality Act by a cross-party committee, “Taking evidence from all communities who have been impacted.” It suggests that the purpose of this is to…
Clarity: Not Erasure
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What has actually happened The Supreme Court did not remove rights from trans people. It clarified which legal characteristic protects which interest. The Equality Act 2010 contains nine protected characteristics. Two of them are relevant here: sex and gender reassignment. For years, ambiguity existed about how these interacted – particularly whether a trans woman (i.e. a man) with a Gender Recognition Certificate should be treated as a woman for every purpose under the Act, including access to single-sex services. The Supreme Court, unanimously, said no: for the purposes of the Act, “sex” means biological sex. A GRC does not alter that…
It’s Complicated and Superficial Knowledge Doesn’t Help
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Any serious discussion of the Israeli Palestinian conflict risks becoming incomplete when it treats the Palestinian Nakba as the only refugee tragedy born from the collapse of the British Mandate and the wars that followed. The suffering of Palestinian Arabs in 1948 was profound and historically significant. Hundreds of thousands were displaced during a brutal conflict whose consequences remain unresolved today. But modern discussion often overlooks an equally consequential human tragedy: the destruction of ancient Jewish communities across the Arab and wider Middle Eastern world. Tragedies affected both communities Between roughly 800,000 and 1,000,000 Jews fled, were expelled, or were…
The Commissioner Who Lost His Neutrality…
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There is a principle at the heart of British policing so fundamental that it predates the modern democratic state: the constable, whatever their rank, enforces the law impartially and takes no political sides. It is this principle that distinguishes a police service from a political instrument. It is also the principle that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has, by any honest assessment, repeatedly and seriously compromised. The evidence is not a matter of interpretation. It is a pattern of documented public statements, selective enforcement decisions, and a conspicuous failure to fulfil a clear legal duty, one that sits in…
“Does Magna Carta Mean Nothing to You? Did She Die in Vain?”
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In the current political climate and with the increase in the intolerance of others, human rights have acquired a curious reputation. To listen to certain rightward leaning voices on the airwaves, one might conclude that they are a recent foreign invention – a bureaucratic imposition dreamed up by progressive ‘lefty’ lawyers in Strasbourg to frustrate the will of the British people. Nothing could be further from the truth. The idea that every human being possesses inherent dignity that no state may trample upon is not a creation of the twentieth century. It is, in fact, one of the oldest political…
