Revealed: The end of civil liberties

Britain has lost many of its fundamental freedoms
Britain has lost many of its fundamental freedoms

Reddit

Stumble

 
 

Related News

The end of the honeymoon?

The Conservatives' four-month honeymoon is threatening to come crumbling down under the combined weight of the William Hague affair and allegations about Andy Coulson's role in phone hacking at the News of the World.

The combination of various rows have threatened to end the government's honeymoon
 

Friday, 20, Feb 2009 03:02

By Ian Dunt

The first extensive audit of the loss of civil liberties in the UK has been published, documenting a catalogue of restrictions of fundamental British freedoms.

Among the 60 new powers contained in over 25 acts of parliament published by the Convention on Modern Liberty, are laws allowing 28-day detention without charge and restrictions on protest.

Other changes include email, telephone and letter interception, electronic tagging, house arrest, private coroners' inquests and restrictions on photography.

Former shadow home secretary David Davis said the report revealed how British freedom had been chipped away bit by bit.

"The government is casually disregarding our civil liberties in the face of problems to which it has no adequate solutions," he said.

"There will always be threats to our country whether it be in the face of terrorist activity or crime and we must fight for our liberties and win the battle each time."

Henry Porter, co-director of the Convention on Modern Liberty, said: "One of the problems with the erosion of liberty in Britain over the last decade was that the public failed to pay attention to what was happening in parliament.

"Laws that fundamentally challenged our traditions of rights and liberty and flew in the face of the Human Rights Act were passed with relatively little debate.

"Few grasped the impact they would have on our society and ministers were able to brush aside protests with assurances that their desire to protect us was equal to their respect for civil liberties."

The Home Office said its counterterrorism programme was "proportionate".

"The government has been clear that where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate," a spokesman said.

"The key is to strike the right balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data."

The 20 page report was compiled by University College London's (UCL) student human rights programme.

What do you think?

Name 

Location 

Email 

Comment 

Enter the text shown to the right
  • "Thank you for your comment."

    Lee () Posted: 25/03/2009 12:01:01

More News

The end of the honeymoon?

The Conservatives' four-month honeymoon is threatening to come crumbling down under the combined weight of the William Hague affair and allegations about Andy Coulson's role in phone hacking at the News of the World.

The combination of various rows have threatened to end the government's honeymoon

BBC on backfoot over Thompson trip to Downing Street

The BBC has defended the decision of director general Mark Thompson to visit Downing Street for discussions concerning political coverage.

Mark Thompson is directpor general of the BBC

Hague row refuses to die down

The row over William Hague's relationship with aide Christopher Myers refused to die down today, with questions still being raised about his judgement.

Hague tried to put the matter behind him with a highly personal statement on Wednesday

Blunkett: Extradition treaty regret

David Blunkett has expressed misgivings over Britain's extradition treaty with the United States, despite being the home secretary at the time it was signed.

Devid Blunkett was home secretary when the extradition treaty with the US was signed

Free Newsletter

Sign up to politics.co.uk's free daily newsletter and never miss a key political news story again.


Opinion Formers

ABCUL Election Manifesto Video

Click on the video below to begin playing, or view the full size video here. Get Adobe Flash player

British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF)

motorcycle, motorcyclists, biker, motorbikes, bikes, safety for motocyclists, bikes, transport, road

Breast Cancer Care

, breast cancer, mastecomy, cancer research, cancer treatment, health, cancer, illness, cancer treat

Chamber of Shipping

, shipping, ships, tankers, ships, trade, finance, business, oil tankers, transport, transportation,

Building Societies Association (BSA)

, building society, demutualisation, building societies,

Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)

Countryside Alliance

, fox hunting, countryside alliance, fox hunts, foxes, shooting, angling, country sports, field spor

Crisis

, housing, homelessness, rough sleepers, begging, beggars, Crisis, homeless, charity, houses, living

National Housing Federation

housing, housing associations, sheltered housing, council houses, affordable housing, Local Area Agr

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

, animal rights, animal welfare, circus, zoo, whaling, fox hunting, animal cruelty, foxes, whales, f

Intellect

, cssa, federation of electrical industries, computer, computers, software, information technology,

Search for Opinion Formers related to Education