Many people on the right of politics in the UK seem to be under the false impression that the European Convention on Human Rights, and the European Court of Human Rights are connected with the European Union. They are wrong. You have to sign up to them to be a member of the European Union, but it's part of the Council of Europe. This is a different body and includes all European Countries except for Russia and Belorus, including other non-EU countries such as Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the UK and Crown Dependencies (Channel Islands, Isle of man, etc).
We in the UK couldn't do worse than to adopt the European Convention on Human Rights as a written constitution, to be voted in by binding referendum by a simple majority, and only to be repealed by a two thirds majority to prevent politicians trying to overrule the people.
The ECHR guarantees the right to freedom of speech, although countries have a right to suppress some free speech, for example hate speech in domestic laws.
It guarantees within the law, the right to freedom of assembley, the right to freedom of thought and conscience, the right to marry who you choose, the right to privacy, the right to free and fair elections and so many other rights.
If your rights are taken away by the government and the courts, who are appointed by the Lord Chancellors Office (a political appointment), rule against you, you have the final resort of being able to take the government or NGO to the European Court of Human Rights.
Some right-wingers of all political parties don't want you to have these rights. They want total control over you, even though they work, and are paid for by you. They often pick on a minority in the hope that you support them in their attempts to remove everybody's rights. But if there was a referendum to leave the ECHR I think the campaign would leave politicians and the far right (sometimes the same thing) in no doubt that the people want to have their rights protected from abuses by governments.
You can read about all the rights almost all of Europe (inside and outside the EU) have thanks to the ECHR by following the link. This is the English Language Version but other languages are available.
It is widely rumoured that Theresa May was not aware of that distinction either!
