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Amal Clooney is widely regarded as one of the most engaging and successful barristers in international law.
The top human rights lawyer may have shot to world fame following her marriage to George Clooney in Venice last year, but only after she’d served as a special advisor to then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and represented the likes of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, among others.
Dr David Starkey , however, is less than impressed by her achievements. The historian went as far as to accuse Clooney of promoting human rights “beyond the purpose proposed by Winston Churchill after the Second World War”.
The result, the Mail Online quotes him as saying, is a society in which people are so hyper-focused on human rights that they’ve forgotten about their own contributions and duties to society.
The balance, he reportedly said, between human rights and duty has been lost, and could only be restored if “the Amal Clooneys and Shami Chakrabartis would shut up”.
David Starkey has accused Baroness Doreen Lawrence of treating black people as victims (Getty) According to the article, he also referred to human rights campaign group Liberty as a source of the apparent “problem”.
The Magna Carta: The True Story Behind The Charter author’s comments come amid debate about Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to scrap the European human rights laws.
The 1998 Human Rights Act requires all UK law to be interpreted in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enforced by the Strasbourg court.
UK courts only need to take into account any decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights, but only to the extent that the court considers them to be relevant. Courts in the United Kingdom are in no way bound by Strasbourg and the UK does not need to change law based on judgments from the European Court of Human Rights.
Show all 27 1 /27The women who are shaping our world The women who are shaping our world Janet Yellen (US) Women hold positions of power in the United States like in no other country, but in terms of raw power none challenge Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve, whose decisions determine the cash in not only every Americans’ purse but ours too.
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The women who are shaping our world Oprah Winfrey (US) Oprah still directs the US national conversation through her TV appearances, stadium tours and, most recently, her backing of ‘Selma’, which finally gave Martin Luther King the deserved cinematic attention.
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The women who are shaping our world Christine Lagarde (France) Managing Director of the IMF (the first woman to run the 188-country financial organization), Lagarde’s leadership has coincided with one of the worst modern economic crises. She is willing to say the unpalatable as she demands politicians reform their economies to “effectively address the predicament of the 200 million jobless worldwide.”
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The women who are shaping our world Nicola Sturgeon (UK) The Queen? No, the person whose political career has been built on a commitment to tear apart the union who (at this moment) holds the actual power. With the SNP likely to sweep Scotland in the forthcoming general election, it will be Sturgeon who will have the greatest say over Britain’s future.
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The women who are shaping our world Emma Watson (UK) It’s what she’s done since Hogwarts that has so impressed. The fashion world may have adopted her as a muse, but it is in the area of sexual politics that she has found her voice, becoming a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and helping launch the UN Women HeForShe campaign, calling for men to advocate the cause of gender equality.
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The women who are shaping our world Angela Merkel (Germany) In Germany she is known as ‘Mutti’ (or ‘Mother’) but it is in her international dealings that the Chancellor’s power has been most marked - whether breaking the post-World war II taboo on military actions by sending arms to Kurdish fighters facing ISIS or working tirelessly to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Ukraine.
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The women who are shaping our world Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (Germany) One of only 12 female Nobel Prize winning scientists, pioneering geneticist Nüsslein-Volhard is a global expert in genetic mutations and the ethical implications of recent developments in genomics and biotechnology. She campaigns for rights of mothers worldwide.
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The women who are shaping our world Lubna Olayan (Saudi Arabia) A corporate trailblazer, and is one of the most influential businesswomen in the Middle East, Olayan is CEO of her own financing company, which runs 40-plus companies across the region. She has also pushed progressive business practices where few others do, promoting women and celebrating their contribution to business culture.
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The women who are shaping our world Wajeha al-Huwaider (Saudi Arabia) The co-founder of the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia is one of the few voices for equality in a country where women are must have a male guardian to travel, open a bank account and seek employment. Her campaign to permit women to drive gained international acclaim.
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The women who are shaping our world Shahnaz Wazir Ali (Pakistan) Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and chairperson of Higher Education Commission and a rare female voice in the country - since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto there has been a dearth of women at the highest levels of power in Pakistan.
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The women who are shaping our world Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan) Shot by the Taliban in 2012 for blogging about life under their rule, Yousafzai has become an inspirational campaigner for education for women and girls. She is the youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize, giving her access to political leaders worldwide and helping turn her advocacy into a global movement.
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The women who are shaping our world Julie Bishop (Australia) Since Julia Gillard left, there has been a lack of women in senior posts. Bishop is the exception, having been Foreign Affairs minister since 2013. Her handling of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 won plaudits, leading to her being touted as a contender for PM Tony Abbott’s job.
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The women who are shaping our world Cathy Freeman (Australia) Since winning gold at the 2000 Olympic games, sprinter Freeman has campaigned for Aboriginal rights with her Cathy Freeman Foundation, working to improve the educational prospects of Australia’s indigenous children.
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The women who are shaping our world Michelle Bachelet (Chile) President Bachelet (the first woman to head her country) is now serving a second term, having ended her first with an 84 per cent approval rating. In her earlier career, her commitment to standing up for the oppressed caused her to be jailed, tortured and exiled and, between her presidencies, she served as Executive Director of UN Women.
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The women who are shaping our world Dilma Rousseff (Brazil) Brazil’s first female president. Rouseff has been in power since 2010, leading a $2.2 trillion economy and 200 million people. With the World Cup and the Olympics, the eyes of the world are firmly on her country at a time when she is seeking to redistribute wealth during an economic recession.
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The women who are shaping our world Sofia Vergara (Colombia) She may be best known for US TV’s ‘Modern Family’ but it is Vergara’s business achievements that make this 41-year-old actress so important to her country. Her savvy steering of her firm, Latin World Entertainment, has made it a regional $27m-a-year talent management, marketing and tech powerhouse.
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A number of cases causing controversy include foreign criminals who have won the chance to avoid being deported by successfully using their human right to family life.
The Human Rights Act also protects people’s rights to freedom of expression and worship, non-discrimination, life and to be treated humanely.
Starkey is yet to respond to request for clarification.
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