The Know Daily - Wednesday 10 September 2025

_{Read in 4m 18s ∙ Listening to Sanyel Droen ∙}

Want a faster, fairer way to switch your pension? Support PensionBee’s call for a 10-Day pension switch guarantee and help make slow transfers a thing of the past. Sign the petition now.

✨ Thank you to PensionBee for sponsoring and helping drive real change in the pensions industry – and for keeping this newsletter free and accessible to all ✨

Children around the world are rediscovering their smiles through Operation Smile. With the support of skilled medical volunteers, life-changing surgeries repair cleft lips and palates. Each operation restores confidence, hope and smilier futures 🤗

🏛️ The ECHR: an explainer

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has been hitting the headlines recently – but what is it, who does it protect and how does it affect life in the UK?

Let’s wind back the clock.
The ECHR was drafted after the Second World War, led by the newly formed Council of Europe (not the EU). It came into force in 1953, with the UK one of the very first countries to sign up. The aim was to make sure governments across Europe respected fundamental rights such as the right to life, fair trials, privacy, free expression and protection.

What is it made up of?
The ECHR applies to everyone within the jurisdiction of its member states – that includes people of any nationality living, working, visiting or otherwise under a state’s authority. Today, 46 countries are signed up, covering around 700 million people.

What exactly falls under it?
The ECHR protects a range of rights that affect everyday life, including:

• The right to a fair trial

• Freedom of expression

• Protection from discrimination

• The right to family and private life

• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

• Protection against inhumane treatment

These rights aren’t unlimited – governments can restrict some of them in specific circumstances (for example, to protect national security or public safety), but any restriction must be proportionate and lawful.

So what about the UK?
If someone believes their rights under the Convention have been breached, they can challenge it in UK courts. Since the Human Rights Act 1998, British judges can hear ECHR arguments directly, rather than people having to go to Strasbourg, France. If a case still can’t be resolved nationally, individuals can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, which oversees how the Convention is applied across member states.

Human rights lawyer, Adam Wagner, told The Guardian that “a lot of the rights contained in the European Convention come from British common law.”

So it’s not the same as the EU?
No – and this is a common confusion. The Council of Europe, which oversees the ECHR, is a separate organisation from the European Union. Leaving the EU (Brexit) did not affect the UK’s membership of the ECHR.

Bring all your old workplace pensions together in one simple, online plan with PensionBee. Choose from a handpicked selection of pension options so you can invest in a way that aligns with your values. It’s a way to grow your savings while helping to build a better future for the planet, too. 

🗳️ Deputy race: Hopeful Labour MPs need 80 nominations by Thursday to be able to stand for deputy leader after Angela Rayner’s resignation.

• The bigger story: Several MPs including Bridget Phillipson, Emily Thornberry, Lucy Powell and Alison McGovern have entered the contest, while figures such as Shabana Mahmood and Lisa Nandy have ruled themselves out. The vote runs from October 8 to 23, with the winner announced on October 25.

📱 iPhone innovations: Apple is set to launch the first “iPhone Air” which will be significantly thinner and lighter than existing models.

❄️ Polar payment: The European Commission has proposed doubling its financial support of Greenland in the next EU budget.

🪖 Ancient apparel: Marine archaeologists have uncovered a Roman-era helmet from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, thought to be lost during an ancient naval battle in 241 BC.

🧠 Telepathic tech: A US startup has created a wearable device that lets you communicate silently by decoding neuromuscular signals in the jaw and throat.

🦋 Bountiful butterflies: Butterfly numbers have bounced back from last year, according to the annual Big Butterfly Count.

🪷 Salut Four Seasons!: The next season of White Lotus is likely to be set in France, according to Deadline. Here are the predictions of exactly where.

Help your friends feel better about the news. Get them to sign up using your personalised code 👉 https://theknowmedia.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

⭐ Get clicking - this tells our partners that readers are interested in The Know. Let’s get started with this one!

⭐ Add us to your contacts or primary inbox - this makes sure we reach your inbox (and everyone else’s) each morning.

The Know is on a mission to help everyone start their day feeling informed and hopeful. We only recommend things we genuinely love but sometimes we make money from the links and content we share. This directly supports keeping our journalism free for all.

Trivia answer: B) Wooper takes inspiration from the aquatic axolotl.

How did you find today’s email?
😍 Loved it! | 😕 Could be better…

Need fewer emails? Click here to hear from us once a week.