Emily Thornberry Quotes


The Human Rights Act is not a terrorists' charter. It enables ordinary citizens to seek redress when the government breaches fundamental freedoms enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights such as the right to a fair trial, the right to life and free expression.


Citations

Thornberry, Emily. "Defending the Human Rights Act." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2014.

Related Quotes

He had been a Congressman before assuming the Presidency. Civil rights was a major subject of debate after the Civil War. One major issue was that of citizenship itself. Many contended that Americans were citizens of a state and dependant on the state for the protection of civil rights. However, the extent to which the Federal government could and should be the guarantor of citizenship issues was in dispute. Today with the issue settled in favor of Federal preeminence, it is hard to realize that this was very unsettled at one point in history. Garfield was one of those leading the effort for more Federal involvement and control.


As hard as it is for us to imagine today, while her husband was President of the United States, the First Lady wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column every single day with politics frequently the subject. While she usually agreed with the President, there were occasions where they seemed to not see things exactly the same. She tended to be more liberal than he. However, there were those who believed that when she criticized politicians, it was with FDR’s knowledge and blessing and she sometimes did his “dirty work.” Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the most influential people in the country—certainly more-so than any First Lady before and since.


The call for individual liberty and the right of personal property by clergy is surprising to many. This Cahier was the consensus of the Clergy of Blois in 1789. There were cahiers of several provinces of France—some by the clergy, some by the nobles. What is fascinating is the emergence of many of the pre-Revolutionary French concepts. The example of the American revolution and its principles was known throughout the educated classes of France.


It is ironic that Pakistan, the creation of Jinnah’s efforts, has to a great extent adopted Sharia (Islamic Law) resulting in severe curtailment of freedom of speech and thought. Professors languish in jail for not teaching the history of Muhammed in the orthodox way, people are sentenced to death for what the local mullahs regard as blasphemy—results which from Jinnah’s point of view were terrible.


The people who raise the issue do not claim that property rights are not human rights. They do analyze different rights to priorities. For example, most people would view the right to life as more important than the right to travel. Unfortunately rights sometimes come into conflict. What Rand calls the “dichotomy” is the prioritizing of property fights as lower than some other rights such as the right to life. Those people would argue that a businessman should not have a facility that is a public hazard and interfere with his property rights to protect the lives of the public who might encounter the hazard.


Emily Thornberry
Emily Thornberry
  • Born: July 27, 1960
  • Nationality: British
  • Profession: Politician

Emily Anne Thornberry is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade since 2020. She had previously served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow First Secretary of State from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2016 to 2020.