As the UK prepares to hand over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe to Azerbaijan later this month, it's worth reflecting on what's been achieved in our time at the helm. There had long been grumblings from the UK government about the perceived interference of the European Court of Human Rights, in 'British business' and the PM had vowed to use the UK's chairmanship of the Council to reduce the scrutiny of the European Court and reclaim British legal autonomy. That ambition has to some extent been achieved, but I would venture that in so doing the government has inadvertently become an accidental cheering squad for the Human Rights Act.

When they spoke to Amnesty, many of the Dale Farm residents recounted the uncertainty that ruled their lives before they moved to the site - being moved from car parks to common grounds and fields, for a few months at a time. It was only after they moved to Dale Farm that their children and grandchildren, had been able to attend one primary school continuously. For many families, this is the first generation that has completed primary school and is literate. Two sisters, in their 60s and 70s, told us how proud they were of their grandchildren having learned to read and write at school, something neither one of them had the opportunity to do.