Posted by Neil Crowther on Thursday, June 28, 2012,
In :
Prisoner votes
It's deeply depressing that parts of the Government and opposition have set themselves on a collision course with the European Court of Human Rights over the question of prisoner votes rather than devise and debate a proportionate response to the Courts judgement. Defying the rule of law in this way presents a dangerous 'slippery slope' for human rights protection in the UK. Such posturing is also already giving comfort to routine human rights violators such as Russia and Turkey while underm... Continue reading ...
Posted by Neil Crowther on Wednesday, June 13, 2012,
In :
JCHR
Yesterday at a joint meeting between the Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller and the various disability-focused All Party Parliamentary Groups, Baroness Campbell was heard to liken government policies on disability to 'building a nuclear power station on a fault-line without thinking what would happen if there were an earthquake'.
Now I may have misheard what Baroness Campbell said because the line was already formed in my head, having discussed it with Jane. It may have got lost in del... Continue reading ...
Posted by Neil Crowther on Saturday, June 9, 2012,
In :
Prisoner votes
The Government's controversial compulsory voting law, introduced following Simon Cowell's inquiry into record low turnout at the last General Election is facing legal challenge from a prisoner serving a 25 year sentence for armed robbery.
Bob Burst from Hull, East Yorkshire is arguing that the law discriminates against him because his incarceration denies him the opportunity to assess and scrutinise the proposals of the various political parties and to engage freely in democratic debate. "With... Continue reading ...
Last November I worked with Professor Anna Lawson at Leeds University to draft a report for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights synthesising evidence collected from people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental health conditions across nine EU countries - Sweden, UK, Bulgaria, France, Latvia, Romania, Greece and Germany - regarding their experience of living independently and being included in the community.
Posted by Neil Crowther on Wednesday, June 6, 2012,
In :
Equalities
In his fascinating book 'The Righteous Mind' Jonathan Haidt provides evidence to show how people think more systematically and self critically when they know in advance that they will have to explain themselves. To this end, the duty to publish equality impact assessments should help serve to ensure that policy makers and decision-takers reflect properly on the equality implications of options under consideration.
However, evidence also finds that there are different types of careful reason... Continue reading ...
