Friday 27 June 2008

Averting The End of Freedom

As we learn that David Davis will face no opponent from the other major parties in his by-election, the campaign website has produced his "manifesto". As promised, it focusses entirely upon the subject of British freedom and civil liberties, and includes ten specific policy pledges, which so far as I'm aware, is in-line entirely with Tory Party policy:

1.Reverse 42 days pre-charge detention – a ‘PR coup for Al-Qaeda’.
2.Scrap ID cards – put the £19 billion savings towards a Border Police Force and other security measures.
3.Immediate reversal of the ban on free speech outside Parliament.
4.Protect the right to trial by jury.
5.Stop neighbourhood spies using powers that should rest with the police and MI5.
6.Use intercept evidence to prosecute terrorists – but restrict bugging by local councils.
7.Replace 1 million innocent citizens on the DNA database with the serious criminals left off.
8.Make CCTV more effective (80% is unusable) – strengthen punishments for privacy abuse.
9.Slash the 266 separate powers the state has to force its way into the home.
10.Launch an independent inquiry into the government’s serial database failures.

He may also like to take notice of Peter Hitchens' latest blog post, which explains that the Government needs more power to "protect" us simply because it - as well as previous administrations - has undermined the usual proceedures of justice that used to be so effective:

I mentioned in my column that there's no contradiction between supporting the gallows and defending English liberty. On the contrary, the two things go together like roast beef and horseradish sauce. The good old English hanging judge, as George Orwell once unwillingly conceded, was also an incorruptible figure of impartial justice. But I'd go further than that. Feebleness towards wrongdoers will eventually mean the end of freedom.

3 comments:

Man in a Shed said...

"Feebleness towards wrongdoers will eventually mean the end of freedom."

I think that's a key point. Its perhaps another way of saying a lack of justice will lead to the end of freedom.

Olly Onions said...

http://ollysonions.blogspot.com/2008/06/crackpot-to-stand-in-by-election.html

Man in a Shed said...

olly look on the bright side - at least there's no mention of "common purpose".