(Bloomberg) — A leading international human rights NGO accused the UK’s Conservative government of overseeing a deterioration of basic human rights at the same time as a cost of living crisis has threatened people’s access to food and housing.
The government has rolled back rights on issues ranging from peaceful protest to an adequate standard of living, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday.
“In 2022, we saw the most significant assault on human rights protections in the UK in decades,” said Yasmine Ahmed, UK director at Human Rights Watch. “From your right to protest to your ability to hold institutions to account, fundamental and hard-won rights are being systematically dismantled.”
Over a turbulent year which saw three prime ministers come to power, the NGO highlighted:
- New legislation which it says could disenfranchize some voters based on their socioeconomic status or ethnicity.
- A controversial deal to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
- The government’s decision not to promptly increase social security support in line with inflation, breaching “the right to social security and to an adequate standard of living.”
The report comes as a further blow to the UK’s international reputation amid the country’s “winter of discontent,” waylaid by rounds of strike action in response to a bout of double-digit inflation. Health worker walkouts have proved particularly challenging to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, with a government minister urging the public this week to only call emergency services in “life-threatening” situations.
Downing Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: UK Strikes Roll On as 100,000 Civil Servants Call Walkout
The report also raised concerns that the government has continued to fund countries with a record of violating human rights such as Bahrain, which has cracked down on protesters and opposing political parties.
“Despite heralding itself as playing a ‘leading role in defending democracy and freedom across the world,’ the UK Government has taken a sledgehammer to fundamental international commitments,” Ahmed said. “In one breath the British government is denouncing Russia for violating international law and in the next it’s actively flouting and undermining its own international commitments.”
–With assistance from Alex Wickham.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
