Brits defending the ECHR are in a tough spot. A lot of the distinction-drawing between the EU and ECHR feels to me like “if you’re explaining, you’re losing”. People see the CoE and EU institutions as part of a general European setup.
In most places the distinction doesn’t matter much. It’s only in the UK where the EU has been declared the enemy that it’s important to draw the distinction – but the same spirit of international collaborative rule making runs through both so they *feel* similar.
This is why pro-HR Brits are in a tough spot and why – as @Samfr said the other day – if the UK Gov wanted to stoop so low as to run a “kick out foreign judges” campaign the field is well set up for them.
The answer longer-term has to be getting the UK back to its essential identity as part of that European democratic and liberal community – but it’s going to be a hard road, and will need a big culture shift against exceptionalism.
Until then, it’ll be constant rearguard actions to defend even the most basic of rights for those in the UK. Labour also needs to start laying the groundwork for that culture shift, which it won’t be able do by pretending there’s a “Better Brexit” out there. @labour4europe
