AO1: A significant section of the UK political landscape – such as the Conservative Party and Reform UK – want to rescind the HRA and leave the ECHR. AO2: Human rights are particularly vulnerable from sections within the Conservative Party, and Reform UK, who wish to remove the UK from the ECHR and abolish the HRA. This gains sympathy from some in the UK who are anti-European and confuse the EU with the ECHR. AO3: We can conclude that withdrawal from the ECHR would undermine a key aspect of UK rights protection. AO1: Leaving the EU means that the Charter of Fundamental Rights no longer applies, further weakening the protection of rights. AO2: With the Charter of Fundamental Rights no longer applying, courts are less likely to uphold rights. This can already be seen as UK courts, have started to shift in their willingness to challenge the government on human rights, and to take a narrower view of the judiciary’s role – seen in recent rulings on the Shamima Begum case, and arguably the recent ruling on the meaning of ‘sex’ under the Equality Act. AO3: We can conclude that this trends is likely to intensify in the future now that the Charter no longer applies AO1: Many UK governments have diluted or weakened human rights by introducing new legislation which acts to over-ride them. AO2: Governments have weakened legislation which protects human rights and introduced new legislation which denies rights – such as the Public Order Acts which have limited the right to protest and the recent legislation which restricts the right of certain workers to strike. AO3: We can conclude that this is a slow process of erosion that through stealth governments can take away aspects of our human rights. AO1: Human rights in the UK remain narrowly defined and exclude key aspects of social and economic rights. AO2: Human rights in the UK have key omissions, especially economic and social rights, such as the right to quality health treatment etc. AO3: We can conclude that human rights still have a considerable way to travel before we establish a truly equal society.2025 Q1a Using the source, evaluate the view that rights in the UK are poorly protected.

AO1: A great deal of legislation is in place to protect human rights. AO2: Over the years Parliament has introduced a range of legislation which defines and enhances human rights. An example is the Equality Act: which was wide ranging and much more inclusive of UK society. AO3: There has been a growing development in how rights are protected, and the Equality Act was influential in the creation of same-sex marriage which followed. We can conclude that this a progressive and evolving approach to protecting human rights. AO1: The courts also protect human rights via civil liberties which pre- date legislation. AO2: In the UK we also have an active judiciary who can use a range of civil liberties that have been place for hundreds of years to secure human rights. AO3: We can conclude that the protection of rights is long standing, and not limited to recent legislation. AO1: Political parties are generally in favour of supporting human rights. AO2: None of the established political parties in the UK are in favour of a major removal of human rights in the UK, and as such there is a cross party consensus on their importance. AO3: The Conservative Party would argue that they only wish to replace the supremacy of the ECHR with our own Supreme Court. Thus, we can conclude that this is a matter not of the principle of human rights but of process and sovereignty. AO1: Pressure groups actively campaign to protect human rights. AO2: We have an open and tolerant society with a free media, and this allows both individual and group protest. Pressure groups such as Liberty, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch actively monitor human rights protection. AO3: We can conclude that these well- known and respected groups will always champion human rights issues and secure their protection.