Economic, social and cultural rights must be enshrined in UK law



Mon, 16 January 2023

Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA

This week UK government representatives will meet world and business leaders at Davos to talk a big game on inequality. Yet at the same time, a new report from more than 70 civil society organisations across England and Wales has found that our basic human rights at home are in crisis.

Over the last six months, the UK human rights organisation Just Fair has been accepting evidence from organisations on the front line of the cost-of-living crisis for a report to the United Nations on rights in the UK. The evidence is damning, and points to a government falling short in many areas and for too many people.

Soaring levels of poverty, a health service in crisis, a social security system no longer fit for purpose, poor work conditions, restrictions on the right to strike, discrimination at work and school, and in healthcare and housing, are all human rights issues under international law. Our essential rights to food, housing, social security, work, health and education are not being respected, protected or fulfilled.


The successive shockwaves of austerity, Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis have left us with deepening levels of inequality, with the government’s actions consistently worsening rather than improving the situation. Far from protecting our essential rights, the government is failing people across the board.

What is the solution? Greater human rights protections. More than 45 years after the UK signed an international treaty agreeing to uphold economic, social and cultural rights, they’re still not part of domestic law, meaning the government can break its obligations without consequence. It’s time for us to stand up for these rights, and for them to be incorporated into domestic law.

Jess McQuail
Director, Just Fair