UK Withdrawal From the ECHR ('BrECHRit'): From Taboo to Tenable?

In the 1990s it was almost a taboo for senior United Kingdom (UK) politicians to criticise the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); however, it has now become commonplace, especially since 2012. There has been more and more criticism of the ECtHR by certain Conservative politicians, the talk including regular references to the possibility that the UK could withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Increasingly UK withdrawal (`BrECHRit') has been presented as a credible position - a tenable, not taboo option. This article charts this trend and provides a critical analysis of the same, contextualised to the various legal developments occurring in parallel with it. It sets out what is referred to as the `closed'/`inwardlooking' approach adopted to the ECHR by UK Conservative politicians since 2012, and points out that this has roots going back to at least the 1990s.