Human rights and dignity missing from #GE2015 debate

While responsibility is devolved in Scotland for many areas relevant to HIV (for example, sex and relationships education, HIV prevention and the training of NHS and care staff) the new UK government will have a key role to play north of the border. Welfare, equalities and human rights are still reserved matters – and it is these I’ll focus on here. Let’s start with welfare. We have recently seen the biggest reforms to the UK welfare system for over 60 years. It was claimed that these changes would provide support to the most vulnerable and lift people out of poverty. However, cuts and changes to crucial benefits are having the opposite effect. It’s increasingly clear that those hit hardest by the reforms are disabled people and those already living in poverty. Some people have told us that anxiety about changes to their benefits is making them feel suicidal.  We’ve heard from people who can’t afford to attend vital medical appointments, or to pay for essentials like food and heating.  In short, poverty has worsened, and may still grow worse.

Human rights and dignity must form the cornerstone to a new approach to welfare.

It’s time for a system which prevents poverty, treats people with dignity and respect and supports everyone to flourish.  All the political parties have ideas for tackling aspects of poverty - whether by promoting the Living Wage or better supporting people to move into work - but I’m not convinced that their manifestos go far enough in developing a long-term strategy to reduce poverty, and tackle its underlying causes.  We must invest in the support needed to enable everyone to participate fully in society.  Human rights and dignity must form the cornerstone to a new approach to welfare. This brings us to human rights. Human rights are more than abstract concepts. They play a role in everyday situations and many of the decisions that people make. They can be used to bring about real improvements to people’s lives and to ensure the delivery of better services to the public.  In particular, the Human Rights Act means that we can defend our rights in the UK courts and that public organisations have legal obligations to treat everyone with fairness, dignity and respect. However, there has been very little public education about the Human Rights Act and how it works. As a result, many myths and misunderstandings dominate the discussion. There is now a real risk that the next UK Government might seek to weaken (or even scrap) the Human Rights Act, or break the link between the UK and the European Court of Human Rights. Any diminishing of the Human Rights Act would be a significant step backwards and a move that we should strongly oppose. HIV has been talked about a lot in the run-up to the election, but not for the right reasons.  Comments made by some politicians about the costs of HIV treatment and the demographics of people living with HIV are not only inaccurate but dangerous. They represent politics of the lowest form.  I hope that we can now focus on the real issues, like those I’ve talked about here, to ensure that we as voters influence the laws, policies and decisions that impact on our lives.