The ECHR is nothing to do with the EU. It’s a pan-European agreement on fundament rights upheld by the European Court of Human Right, based in Strasbourg which was founded by the British. Our continued antipathy to the court and the ECHR is deeply depressing - we should be delighted and proud that our ancestors didn’t use their victory in WW2 to humiliate the defeated parties, but to inculcate human rights in their constitutions.
What is bizarre about the UK debate on the EU is the ‘I didn’t sign up to the EU, we only wanted a Common Market’ argument. The formation of ‘an ever-closer union’ is right there, paragraph one of the Treaty of Rome which founded the Union. And you can’t have a functioning union without increased coordination - you can’t have a free market (so beloved of the right and of UKIP) if there is no one laying down rules on labour to ensure sweatshops don’t gain an unfair advantage, if no one agrees weights, measures and quality controls, if no one is checking that their is competition within countries and so on. You can’t have a working union based on markets and free trade without a social aspect - just look at NAFTA as an example of how it doesn’t work without care being taken of citizens.
None of the laws in the EU (confusingly called EC laws) just come about. Even the Commission which runs the EU machinery has to consult with heads of government and the European Parliament and with the European Court of Justice (the supreme court in the Union). So talk of top-down decisions is wrong, these are laws our governments want to enable.
So, sorry Europe - my country is broken and I’m afraid the warranty has run out. You might be better off without us and just think of the UK as a Dickensian theme park shorn of its empire. Hope you have a great 21st Century, we’ll be tugging forelocks and shovelling coal.
