British PM David Cameron seeks to scrap Human Rights Act

Cameron’s human rights record isn't great. As Europe continues to slide to the right, and after significant UKIP gains in the European elections, Britain's PM has followed suit with a vow to scrap the Human Rights Act – something he has long advocated.

I guess Cameron doesn't like humans...right? It would seem not.

Reading the list of Tory promises announced, you'd think that the Conservative government was some kind of advocates for social justice and a redistribution of wealth.

But the reality is the complete opposite.Over the last couple of years, the rate of privatization has quickened at a frightening rate, with more and more vital services being outsourced to private companies, concerned only with profit margins.This has resulted in more and more vital public sector workers being laid off.Treating public service workers like expendable assets along with his version of Margaret Thatcher's poll tax, the so-called bedroom tax, and more needless war, are already the legacies of his tenure.

Interestingly, Cameron's bedroom tax has itself been heavily criticized by many think-tanks and groups, including the Scottish Parliament and the UN for going against international law and for compromising human rights.

The destruction and chaos already left by the Conservative government, far from fixing “broken Britain” as Cameron used to quip, has simply broken it more.Austerity, which in short means ordinary people paying for the mistakes and crimes of the city, and of their friends in city hall and Westminster, is the order of the day. Stories of hardship and suffering seem to appear daily now everywhere you look, while Cameron and his cronies, a government of millionaires with the likes of Iain Duncan Smith who apparently claimed £100 from the taxpayer to pay for his wet wipes, continue without a trace of irony to blame the poor for the problems we face in society.

Often, the closeness between the political establishment and the mainstream media has meant that many stories reflecting the disastrous consequences of Tory policy are not being highlighted enough - real issues affecting real people, lost in a fog of Westminster media spin, with distractions abundant, all the time the finger of blame being pointed elsewhere.Blame immigrants, the poor, the destitute, Muslims, “foreigners” anyone, except those who are actually taking away more and more freedoms in the name of freedom.Blame anyone for the problems we might face is the Tory mantra except those who would take away the birthright of free health care and education.

The news that Cameron will seek to scrap the Human Rights Act, and try and replace it with a new English Bill of Rights, signals his absolute commitment and determination to win a majority at the general election next year, and thus to be able to discard Nick Clegg and the not-so-Liberal Democrats.

Cameron has had to signify that he is willing to out right wing even the staunchest of right wingers and this is what all his posturing is about.The Tory “go home” vans appear to not have been an effective enough tool, to convince those voters he feels he needs to woo.

The recent defections from UKIP to the Conservatives suggest this tactic is working.And work it must for Cameron.He can't afford to split the Tory vote with UKIP at the general election if he wants his majority next year. So he has to out UKIP.He needs to appear tough not weak, which of course one of the reasons why he is so keen to drop bombs on Iraq and Syria.

Ultimately, Cameron's remarks and promises at the Conservative party conference come as no surprise.He's advocated austerity, privatization, and needless wars since he took office in 2010, including places like Libya and now Iraq (again) where the incalculable loss of life, the very real loss of human rights and life has been well recorded.

His track record would seem to indicate that he doesn't give a stuff about the human rights or interests of anyone, except those whom he represents, his party's benefactors those who would like to see the chasm between the rich and the poor widen, not close.

To date, there is no evidence to suggest that David Cameron thinks human rights are necessary at all.His words suggest that he sees human rights as an obstacle, bureaucratic red tape needing to be cut, his dream of unbridled big business controlling every aspect of our daily lives, needing to be realized.

If alarm bells were ringing, by now they should be deafening our ear drums.What would Britain look like with an all out conservative Conservative government? What will happen to our young people, and our older members of society?

And god forbid David Cameron gets his way, and introduces a new “English Bill of Rights.”That would simply signal an end to any possibility of fairness and true equality in our society.

The only way out of this mess is for a real labor movement to emerge which can challenge the hegemony of the current two party system. Any party which advocates 'austerity' and war do not represent the people.

It is not in the nature of power to concede power.As the great abolitionist Frederick Douglas once said, power concedes nothing without demand, and so we must demand an end to this madness and pries these people's hands off of our services.

All the mainstream parties pretty well advocate the same.We deserve better, so we have to demand better because all of our futures are at stake.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.