I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman was not here earlier to be part of the conversation. I am sure that he would want his own right of remedy to explain why he could not be bothered to be here at the start. He would have heard the debate that we had about the original intention of the Court. Let me quote back to him the original document, which states:
“The High Contracting Parties undertake to abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case to which they are parties.”
From the start, Churchill himself advocated for the Court as a backstop against overbearing Governments that could speak for people and prosecute people in ways that were being talked about after the second
world war without any challenge. I do not quote Churchill sarcastically. I recognise what he saw at the time: the danger of authoritarianism. The hon. Gentleman would do well to reflect on that and perhaps reread some of those arguments—as well as the rules about taking part in a parliamentary debate.
When Churchill talked about welcoming any country in which the people owned the Government, he was talking about democracy, and our courts are an integral part of our democracy because they keep Governments honest, even if they are straining with this current Administration. Just two countries have left the European Court of Human Rights. I was there when we expelled Russia because of its aggression and when we tried to prevent it from coming back. Greece left in 1967 when it was under a military regime and rejoined once democracy was restored. We should be proud and confident in our capacity to speak up for human rights and to recognise that a right to an effective remedy is an integral part of that. There is no point having a right if we cannot exercise it, and that means having a separate body to oversee the process and ensure that it is fair to all parties.
3.30 pm
More pragmatically, we should be worried about messing up our trade deals and undermining peace in Northern Ireland, as this Bill does. I say to the hon. Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger) that it is not woke to be libertarian, to not trust Governments or to think that we need to protect ourselves. It is wack to think that because your Government is in charge, it is okay because they will not abuse their power. All Governments try to do that at some point, and it is right that all Governments face a process of challenge.
This legislation will not stop the boats. What the Government really want to do is stop the vote, but they cannot do that. There will be an election, but not before we have done potentially irreparable damage. The Irish Government have yet to say what they think about this Bill, but the UK Government were clear in the ruling in October that they felt that refugees were covered by the Good Friday agreement. So in tabling this legislation, this Government are undermining their own logic about their obligations under the Good Friday agreement. Even if Conservative Members do not care about the trade and co-operation agreement, let us at least care about the peace process. Let us ensure that these issues about compatibility are not something out of “Alice in Wonderland” but speak to the best of this place and to those obligations, because I promise that we will all regret it if we do not speak up for freedom and liberty in this way.