Sadiq Khan said the ECHR was why we had free speech. (Image: GLA)
Sadiq Khan has sparked backlash after appearing to claim that the Britons owe their right to free speech to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Speaking to the London Assembly, the Labour Mayor said: “It’s great that the Conservative Party now supports the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 10, freedom of expression.”
He added, in response to a question from a Tory member: “Let’s be frank, it’s because we are signatories to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights […] that protects the right she wants to exercise.”
Khan’s remarks caused a flood of anger across Westminster, as Tory and Reform MPs lined up to condemn the Mayor.
Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary and Conservative MP said that the Mayor was “embarrassingly wrong”, adding that “Britain did not need a European treaty to discover liberty, we invented it.”
Mr Philp said that Britain “gave the world parliamentary democracy, a free press, and the right to speak your mind without fear of government reprisal.”
He slammed Khan, who is Police and Crime Commissioner for London, saying that “under Khan’s watch […] five armed officers were dispatched to arrest a comedian at an airport for tweets. That is his record on free speech.”
Philp was referring to the arrest of Father Ted creator, Graham Linehan, who was met by armed police when leaving a plane at a major London airport.
Speaking to the Express, Philp continued, saying: “Free speech in Britain was hard won through centuries of struggle and reform. It was enshrined in law and defended in our courts long before the ECHR even existed.”
The Shadow Home Secretary accused the Mayor of insulting the legacy of the fight for freedom of expression in the UK, and said that the Mayor’s comments proved “how quick Labour politicians are to outsource our rights to foreign courts rather than trusting Britain’s own proud institutions.”
Sadiq Khan quizzed on free speech
Reform piled on the pressure as well, with Lee Anderson MP saying: “It is not the ECHR that gives us freedom of expression or any of our freedoms. It’s people like my late grandad Charles William Waterfield who spent 4 years fighting the Nazis in North Africa and Italy.”
Anderson added that “Mayor Khan has no idea about the sacrifices made by our grandparents 80 years ago. Britain has a long and proud history of free speech that predates the ECHR.”
He described the ECHR as “nothing but an obstacle to protecting our borders and deporting those who have no right to be here.” and said that the ECHR’s position on deportations was “probably exactly the reason Sadiq defends it so vehemently.”
Anderson reiterated the Reform Party’s policies to “scrap [the ECHR] entirely, so we can take back control of our borders and restore safety to our streets.”
The row comes as nationwide debate grows over whether or not the UK should remain a signatory to the Convention.
