In the UK we have long benefitted from the rights and freedoms which have defined our values. We defend these rights at home and abroad. Yet of late, we are starting to see an erosion of these rights.

Last week the Overseas Operations Bill was debated in Parliament. We were told it would protect our Armed Forces from multiple investigations for actions in conflicts past, something veterans need protecting from. However, in reading the detail of the Bill it does no such thing.

There is not a mention of investigatory procedures or the provision of greater protection for our serving troops. In fact it removes their rights, rather than enhancing them.

The Bill time-limits the rights of veterans to make personal injury claims to six years at most. Developing PTSD, hearing or sight loss from conflict can take longer to recognise and even more time to bring a claim. Even the Government’s papers recognise this. Labour has called for this limitation to be removed.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this legislation is the limitation of just five years to bring a claim against torture or war crimes. These are complex matters and it can take years to bring about a prosecution. While sexual violence is exempt, other victims of torture are seeing their rights removed.

Should time be exceeded, then the only way to bring a case against the Government is through obtaining permission from the Government’s Attorney General, who sits in the Cabinet. No independence whatsoever.

This curbing of rights could leave our veterans without the compensation they should be entitled to, and prevents victims of torture ever having their cases heard. It is rooted in discrimination and breaches international law and conventions which we are signatures of, including the UN Committee Against Torture. This is a treaty which we have ratified and states that all victims of torture or ill treatment, regardless of when the violation occurred, must be able to access their rights to remedy and obtain redress.

The final part of the Bill enables the Government to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights in certain conflicts, removing judicial protections altogether.

Human rights and access to justice are not just being restricted in conflict, but in civil legislation too. The Government’s ‘independent’ review of Judicial Reviews has concluded that access should be limited. This is often the last place where someone can challenge the state. The Government have said that they want to withdraw the Human Rights Act, proudly established by the Labour Government in 1998. Squeezing our rights; slashing Government accountability.

This summer, the Home Secretary wanted to criminalise environmental protectors who were protesting in defence of our melting planet and the Government’s abject failure to act on the climate emergency. Chilling, in a nation where protest has advanced the rights of others from the anti-slavery movement, trade unions fighting for jobs to women demanding the vote. Just months ago a new movement rose to say 'Black Lives Matter'.

This week we debate another piece of legislation which has infringed greatly on our rights and liberties. The Coronavirus Act has handed swathes of power to the Government to suppress our rights and freedoms.

We must do everything we can to protect one another by:

1. Maintaining hygiene standards through hand washing and sanitising

2. Covering our faces by wearing a mask.

3. Keeping our distance.

But this must be accompanied with protecting our rights. Government must be accountable to Parliament for the actions it takes.

Banning visits to care homes has exposed them to risk, and resulted in our most vulnerable losing the right to see their families. Limiting the rights of those with reduced capacity has reversed years of progress through a more consensual model of mental health support; and enforcing pub closures at 10pm, grounded in no scientific evidence, has just poured significant risk onto our streets.

There is a thread running through all these measures. Our liberties and rights are being controlled. History tells us that this is the beginning of a far more sinister agenda. I fear where we are being led to. We must uphold the power of Parliament and the power of the people we serve.