Far from endangering our freedoms, the ECHR makes the individual, not the state, the centre of the international order, says Sam Fowles

An immutable law of modern politics is that the louder a politician bloviates about “freedom” the more authoritarian they will be in power. The last government waxed lyrical about “freedom of speech” then tried to ban peaceful protests, even attempting to imprison a pensioner for holding a placard reading “Jurors you have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to your conscience” (the same message is displayed on a plaque in the Old Bailey itself).

At the Conservative conference Robert Jenrick (who last year called for the arrest of anyone who said “Allahu Akbar” in public) whined “freedom of speech is in danger across the West”. James Cleverly promised to “get the heel of the state off your neck”. Their central policy? Leave the European Convention on Human Rights – the very law........

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