Anti-terror law stalled

There’s still hope – Tony Blair’s autocratic “anti-terrorism law”:http://john.pettigrew.org.uk/blog/archive/2005/03/02/restrict_freedom_to_preserve_l is currently stalled, with the House of Lords having apparently voted against it four times in the past hour. However, the House of Commons has already passed it, leaving something of a deadlock. Significant concessions have already been won: all control orders will now have to be agreed by a judge, rather than simply by the Home Secretary, and the law will need yearly review if it is to stay in force. There’s still no progress on two more issues: level of proof (the bill as it stands needs only reasonable suspicion rather than anything stronger) and a lifetime (the Tories want the law to expire automatically by the end of the year).

One of the interesting things here is Mr Blair’s response: he’s condemning those voting against the law as “irresponsible”! So now disagreeing with Mr Blair about how to solve a problem is irresponsible? And this is supposed to make us feel better about the sweeping powers this new bill would give the government?

pax et bonum

Article posted at 3:36pm on 10 March 2005
Category: Politics, Struggling, General