They did not emerge peacefully from the womb of philosophical or legal argument. They were secured by political action and debate.

But they [Human rights] are not the only rights that sustain the bonds of the United Kingdom's public realm. Supplementing them are more specifically British rights, such as the right to strike; the right to free health care; the right to safe working conditions; the right to equal pay for equal work; and the right t free primary and secondary education. Most of these British rights have foreign analogues but that does not detract from their British origins. They did not emerge peacefully from the womb of philosophical or legal argument. They were secured by political action and debate. .... [The Public Realm] is a gift of history, precious but also vulnerable. We, and not just remote elites, are responsible for its health; it is up to us to make sure it survives and prospers. We demean ourselves if we try to shuffle off the primordial responsibility onto others.

D. Marquand, Mammon's Kingdom (2014), 97-98

What follows (p. 103-109) is excellent on the history.