Author gives timely reminder why Labour must go

The Counter Terrorism Bill, which includes plans for 42 day pre charge detention, is due for its third reading in the House of Lords next month. It is likely to face a robust challenge and could well be voted down in parliament's second chamber.

John le Carré, the novelist and former spy, has picked a particularly timely moment, therefore, to register his disgust at the proposed legislation.

“I'm angry that there is so little anger around me at what is being done to our society, supposedly in order to protect it. We have been taken to war under false pretences, and stripped of our civil rights in an atmosphere of panic.”


The author’s comments reflect widespread disillusionment, amongst those of liberal sensibility, with Labour’s systematic destruction of basic liberties. Arguments against erosion of freedom have married increasingly harmoniously with Conservative calls to preserve rights, fundamental to the UK’s constitution. David Davis MP enjoyed backing from both camps as he eased to a majority of over 15,000, in a by election precipitated by this issue, earlier in the summer.

Le Carré’s literary status will ensure that his remarks once again highlight the importance of this debate. He is by no means the most influential ex-spy to raise doubts about the government’s plan however. Lady Manningham Buller, who retired from her position as head of MI5 last year, has already opposed 42 days in the Lords, calling into question whether the measures would in fact allow security services to counter terrorism more effectively.

As this assault on law and liberty continues its progress through parliament, the disparate alliance against the legislation must hold. It is indicative of an authoritarian instinct, careless of rights and freedoms which underpin our society, cavalier with the fabric of our constitution, which characterises this Labour government. It represents compelling proof that as broad a coalition of British people as can be built, should strive to see the back of Gordon Brown and his party, as soon as possible.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Football fever in Russia

Russia Blog is getting excited about Euro 2008. Indeed it is drawing parallels between Guus Hiddink and Peter the Great in terms of successful Russo-Dutch exchanges of expertise. Meanwhile, in Moscow, fans have been taking to the streets in order to celebrate the national team’s achievements.
Read more

Stormont might not collapse but paramilitaries continue to disfigure Northern Ireland

Image
The devolved institutions in Northern Ireland are supposedly ‘teetering on the brink’ of collapse yet again.  After repeated failures to agree a balanced budget or implement welfare reform created months of uncertainty, the Executive’s future is now in doubt because the PSNI believes members of the IRA were involved in murdering a republican hit man.  Despite its apparent seriousness, this particular predicament is unlikely to bring the shaky edifice at Stormont crashing down. The IRA was supposed to have disbanded its military ‘structures’ and decommissioned its entire arsenal of weapons back in 2005.  It was on the basis of this understanding that power-sharing resumed in 2007 and the DUP entered government with Sinn Féin.  From the outset it was a fairly flimsy pretext.   Less than a year after John de Chastelain, the retired Canadian general, oversaw decommissioning, the Independent Monitoring Commission reported that the IRA retained a substantial haul of arms.
Read more

Walker loada rubbish

Former BBC employee Brian Walker has overrun Slugger O’Toole lately with countless poorly structured, poorly written posts. It is possible quickly to recognize and avoid these by subjecting each Slugger piece to a cursory inspection and identifying those which feature characteristic lack of paragraphing and a tenuous grasp on the technicalities of linking source articles. Although I generally evade Walker’s posts by this method, occasionally (and unfortunately) I have persevered and found that their content is as unrewarding as the style in which they are written. Today, for instance, I inflicted upon myself Brian’s thoughts on a mooted Fianna Fail / SDLP merger . In actual fact, he is right to welcome news that the Southern Irish party has dropped this proposal from its agenda; however, the logic by which he arrives at this conclusion is parochial nonsense. To summarise, Walker believes that pursuing realignment with larger parties, whether they are from the rest of the UK or fro
Read more