Why Liz Truss must embrace civil society as allies
If the new government is to improve Britain’s security, sustainability, and standing in the world, then it needs new direction on regulation, rights, and global civic freedoms
By Ben Leather, Director, Peace Brigades International (PBI) UK
This time last year, Liz Truss had just been appointed Foreign Secretary, promising that the UK and its embassies would “bang the drum for Britain as a global force for good on vital issues such as tackling climate change”. She talked about the importance of cooperation to ensure Britain’s security, and said she was looking forward to spearheading an outward-looking, “global Britain” that would remain a “leader in development, delivering support for those in need” and championing freedom, “democracy and equality around the world, including empowering women and advancing LGBT rights”.
Truss now has the opportunity to promote these values from the highest political office in the country, having become Prime Minister by virtue of 57.4% of the Conservative party’s 142,000 or so voting members. But if she is going to do this successfully, then she will need to make allies of global civil society and protect those threatened for standing up for the values she says she wants to champion.
Land and environmental defenders – for example – are at the vanguard of action to tackle the causes and impacts of climate change and yet more than four of them are murdered each week. Countless others are imprisoned, which is why at PBI we work to mobilise international legal and diplomatic support for criminalised community leaders in Central America. From Kenya to Nepal, women leaders face the threat of sexual violence as a reprisal for their work combatting gender discrimination, which is why we give them security training. We provide protective accompaniment to NGOs promoting the rule of law.
These brave human rights defenders are the kinds of allies that Truss’s government will need to support and engage if they are to meet the lofty ideals she espoused last September. And, while the previous statements of key cabinet members suggests an uphill battle for those of us working on rights and the environment, their approach will simply have to change if they are serious about promoting freedoms and security.
The Prime Minister will need to do much more than her predecessors to ensure that support for civic space and human rights defenders is central to British foreign policy, and that the UK doesn’t lag behind global momentum to reduce violations and rein in irresponsible businesses.
In 2019, the FCDO published a policy committing the government, civil service and embassies to take action to prevent and respond to threats against human rights defenders, empowering activists as catalysts for positive change. In practice, however, many diplomats are unaware of the guidelines, and implementation has been inconsistent. Truss’s successor as Foreign Secretary - James Cleverly - will need to build upon the 2019 paper, consulting NGOs and front-line activists to develop a holistic, adequately funded, cross-departmental strategy on civil society space. The fact the UK’s Strategy for International Development, developed by Truss earlier this year, completely omits any reference to human rights and civic space, only makes this task more urgent.
Of course, what human rights defenders really want is an end to violations in the first place. More than a third of the activists who PBI supports are standing up to destructive business projects - taking a stand against human rights and environmental impacts that could have been avoided in the first place, had companies and investors carried out proper due diligence. Truss says she will work to stem the climate crisis, yet the UK is trailing behind legislative initiatives being developed elsewhere to curb business excesses. The Prime Minister’s calls to cut regulation ignore the fact that corporations themselves are calling for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act. Truss should get the ball rolling on this immediately, consulting with stakeholders, including human rights defenders.
Finally, if the new cabinet is to get on with these and other priorities, then it will need to stop indulging in the regressive anti-rights rhetoric and proposals of its predecessor. Nothing positive will come of scrapping the Human Rights Act, even if the new Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggests otherwise. As well as leaving vulnerable groups more exposed at home, the move will lead to costly legal battles in Strasbourg and undermine the ability of the UK to be that global leader Truss says she wants it to be.
From authoritarian aggression to climate change, the world faces great threats at present. Human rights defenders and civil society are allies in overcoming these challenges. But they need support. Liz Truss’s foreign policy must ensure that they get it.
Ben Leather is Director at PBI UK. Follow him on Twitter at @BenLeather1
