English Cabaret
23 Feb 2023
A family protest at the proposed withdrawal from ECHR - in song
During the darkest weeks of the year, members of the family of David Maxwell Fyfe, the ECHR's British artisan, have been singing Dreams of Peace & Freedom, which tells his story, in protest at the government's threatened withdrawal from the ECHR in the wake of the 'small boats crisis'.
Retracing Maxwell Fyfe's steps towards the Convention's creation, the protest began in Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands where it featured in the Press & Journal and Northern Times. It continued on to Edinburgh, where the musical protest outside parliament was covered by the Scottish Legal News. They arrived in Liverpool in Holocaust Memorial Week for a special performance at the Museum of Liverpool, and passing through Oxford, where the tour was announced, they completed their protest in London, on the day President Zelenskyy visited Parliament. Regular social updates about the tour's progress were posted along the way on Twitter, and newly launched YouTube channel @thehumansinthetelling.
The tour over, this week the government has reaffirmed its commitment to the ECHR in a surprise announcement from Attorney General, Victoria Prentis. English Cabaret are cautiously delighted, and as the Council of Europe prepares to renew the 'Conscience of Europe' at a summit in May, are looking forward to contributing their inspiring history on the #RoadtoReykjavik.