‘The impact would be enormous’: Could leaving the ECHR threaten British trade with Europe?
The European Convention on Human Rights provides the legal bedrock for protections on fair trial, free speech, privacy, and many other rights in Europe.
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Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have said they would pull Britain out of the Convention and repeal its domestic application, the Human Rights Act. Despite the ECHR underpinning many international agreements, Reform UK has provided less than a page of detail on the legal approach to its potential replacement.
After nine months of intense negotiations, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was agreed upon by UK and EU officials on Christmas Eve of 2020. It is a 2,000-page document of unprecedented scope on finance, security and trade, and it is dependent on the ECHR.
Although there are clauses in the trade agreement that could enable........
