
MAGNA CARTA PROGRESS 2
Our Beautiful Protest Tour
Winter 2022/23
During the darkest weeks of the year, a new generation of David Maxwell Fyfe’s family set off to perform Sue Casson’s dramatic song cycle, Dreams of Peace & Freedom, to shine the light of the past on our fractured present and spark discussion about why it is still relevant today.
It tells the story of the creation of the ECHR through the eyes of Maxwell Fyfe, a leading prosecutor at IMT Nuremberg who went on to draft the Convention.
The protest was against the Conservative party in government undermining the freedoms of all people threatening to withdraw from the Convention in the wake of the ‘small boat’ crisis.
How to deepen the understanding of
the ECHR is an important project
Kate O'Regan, Director of the Bonavero Institute and supporter
DORNOCH
13th January
We began our protest at the source of David Maxwell Fyfe's mythical stream of natural law, that carried him to exact natural justice at Nuremberg and champion the ECHR at Strasbourg.
Here amidst the wild beauty of the Scottish Highlands, he spent happy holidays with his mother's parents hearing tales of family injustice during the late Highland Clearances that shaped his life-long commitment to human rights.
What you are doing is wonderful
Philippe Sands, author of 'East West Street' and supporter
EDINBURGH
17th January
We returned to Edinburgh where Maxwell Fyfe was born and educated. It was here that he first discerned the reason of the Scottish Enlightenment that is the foundation of modern human rights.
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Our protest took place outside the Scottish Parliament and we were welcomed back by St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral.
Your work and commitment are so inspiring
Jamie Stewart on Twitter
LIVERPOOL
26th January
We returned to Liverpool in Holocaust Memorial Week to stand with Holocaust survivor, Joan Salter, who called out the Home Secretary for using the 'language of hate and division' in a manner resembling the Nazis in the 1930s.
David Maxwell Fyfe honed his skills as a barrister in the city on the Northern Circuit before he becoming an MP for its West Derby Constituency.
Frank Cottrell Boyce, screenwriter, author and supporter
Go and see these guys. They mean it!!!!
The ECHR was drafted by David Maxwell Fyfe, the UK's chief prosecutor at Nuremberg. Join his family in keeping that legacy alive
Rene Cassin, the Jewish voice for Human Rights, on Twitter