A Compelling Argument and a Timely Warning.

Would you listen to Five Ideas to Fight For again? Why?

Lord Lester has long been a champion of human rights both as a barrister and more recently, in the House of Lords. He identifies five important areas which have come under constant and sustained attack by successive Governments. They are Human Rights, Equality, Free Speech, Privacy and the The Rule of Law. He demonstrates just how fragile these hard-won rights are. How they have become whittled away by an almost arrogant complacency on the part of civil servants, cabinet government and the Right-Wing Press. He offers contemporary and sometimes harrowing examples of the impact upon individuals of a complacent and sometime hostile attitude to basic human rights on the part of the agencies of the State.

What did you like best about this story?

I particularly liked his chapter on the Rule of Law and the way in which he demonstrates the almost arrogant contempt in which it is held by the Government both in international law and domestically. The refusal to abide by the judgments of internal tribunals, the attempts by the government to limit the ability of the courts to subject actions by government departments to judicial review, the gradual erosion of the ability of the citizen to bring and defend an action in the civil courts and the way in which workers have been priced out of employment tribunals. The message conveyed is that the reality of the government's sustained attack on legal aid and punitive court fees means that rights exist purely on paper .

Have you listened to any of Lord Anthony Lester’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I am not aware of any other work by Lord Lester outside of his role and function as a Peer of the Realm.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

In my opinion, this is a book that would make any fair-minded person extremely angry at the attitude of officials and elected representatives towards those whose votes they pray in aid of.

Any additional comments?

This is an important book, it is perhaps not as comprehensive as the now somewhat dated 'Freedom, The Individual and the Law' published some years ago by Geoffrey Robertson QC, but it is nevertheless a powerful and compelling account of the way in which, I for one feel that in many respects, successive governments have had difficulty in distinguishing between the rights of a citizen in a mature democracy and that of a colonial subject in the pre-independence era of Empire.

5 people found this helpful

Excellent

I feel like this should be required reading for anyone living in the UK. It has become incredibly important in light on Brexit but even before I am certain should have garnered much more attention than a general audience might have given it. The book asks important questions about the way society is run and provides an insiders perspective as well as someone who might not have been the mainstream of government politics. The ideas to fight for are indeed that and you can't help but feel passion for the subject after the arguments have been made. Truly enjoyable read.

My only (very slight) con is that the narration is slightly dry at times. I would want to hear the passion come from Lord Lester's voice more than it does, considering how important these ideas are. Regardless of that minor detail, the book is superb and I cannot recommend it enough.