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Tag Archives: freedom bill

Opinion: Does the Prime Minister really care about free speech?

By Adam Corlett | Tue 11th December 2012 - 3:40 pm

The Prime Minister is concerned that Leveson’s “essential” legislative underpinning for press self-regulation would cross a line. “We should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and a free press”, he stated, saying that we should be proud of our “great tradition” of freedom of speech. But the UK has many laws that restrict citizens’ free expression and which we should be deeply ashamed of. Will the PM be campaigning to end these?

There’s ‘Section 5’, under which – for example – a 16 year old was summoned to court for holding a placard saying, “Scientology is not a religion. It is a dangerous cult.” Thankfully, after pressure from MPs and the Reform Section 5 campaign, the Home Office consulted on the law and – separately – the Lords will tomorrow vote on amending it. Reformists (including the Deputy Prime Minister) can presumably count on the PM’s support!

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged free speech | 5 Comments

Government pilots new scheme to consult public over drafting of legislation

By Mark Pack | Fri 18th February 2011 - 10:25 am

As someone who has often responded to government consultations on legislation, either on behalf of the party or as an interested individual, and even sometimes got the law changed, I’ve often been disappointed how few people respond to those consultations. In very technical areas, that may not matter too much, but there is a huge swathe of legislation where wider input can provide sensible ideas. It is, after all, the outsider to a system who can often spot what has become second nature to those in the system but no longer makes sense (if it ever did).

So it is good …

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Posted in News | 2 Comments

Tom Brake writes: The Freedom Bill is a staging post towards an even freer society

By Tom Brake | Sun 13th February 2011 - 11:17 am

The Freedom Bill is clear evidence of the Liberal Democrats setting the political agenda and making a positive difference to how we live in Britain.

It’s our robust answer to unwelcome and unwarranted intrusions into our everyday lives. It starts the dismantling of an overbearing surveillance state and restores British civil liberties that we used to be able to take for granted.

At the heart of the Bill is a commitment to safeguarding and protecting individuals and national security. What has felt to many like an obsession of the state to monitor our every waking moment is broken down by the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged anti-social behaviour act, cctv, criminal records bureau, freedom of information, independent safeguarding authority, national dna database, Protection of Freedoms Bill 2010-11, public order act, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, rehabilitation of offenders act and ripa | 17 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg – Sweeping away the illiberal measures of the past

By Nick T | Sat 12th February 2011 - 10:25 am

Over on Sean Dilley’s blog, there’s a transcript of an interview he conducted on talkSPORT with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg discussing yesterday’s announcement of the government’s long-awaited Freedom Bill. Here’s an excerpt of what Nick said:

I first proposed the idea of a Freedom Bill some years ago, because I think under Labour, too many of our Freedoms were taken away. Our Privacy was invaded. Too many innocent people were treated with suspicion. Look, under Labour, your children could have their finger prints taken at school without your permission. You could be spied on by your local Council, your bins

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged nick clegg | 1 Comment

Freedoms Bill published: now you can marry at 6:01pm

By Mark Pack | Fri 11th February 2011 - 10:25 pm

Earlier today, the Protection of Freedoms Bill was published which, in the words of Lib Dem MP Tom Brake, “brings to fruition proposals which were first drawn up by Nick Clegg four years ago, and demonstrates our commitment to rolling back unnecessary and intrusive laws introduced by Labour”.

Key provisions of the Bill include the enactment of some previously announced decisions alongside some new, additional proposals:

an end to the routine monitoring of 9.3 million people under the radically reformed vetting and barring scheme
millions of householders protected from town hall snoopers checking their bins or school catchment area
the scrapping of Section 44

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Posted in News | Also tagged civil liberties, lynne featherstone, nick clegg, tom brake and vetting and barring scheme | 38 Comments

Convictions for historic gay sex offences to be erased

By Helen Duffett | Sun 26th December 2010 - 8:55 am

Convictions for historic gay sex offences will be erased as part of the Freedom Bill, the Sunday Telegraph reports:

Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister, will announce firm proposals for new legislation within days, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The move will benefit thousands of men who were prosecuted for gay sex with someone over 16 during decades when the practice was against the law.

Currently, they must disclose the information as part of the programme of Criminal Records Bureau checks if they apply to work or volunteer for charities and other organisations.

Getting such a conviction expunged currently

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged criminal records bureau, lynne featherstone and sexual offences | 13 Comments

The Independent View: surveillance lessons from Birmingham

By James Elsdon-Baker | Fri 8th October 2010 - 4:05 pm

Birmingham, the city that this week played host to the Conservative party conference, has also been hosting a grass roots battle for Liberty.

This battle takes the form of a campaign run by residents against Project Champion. This project involved the police installing automated number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) in a Muslim area of the city.

It has now been shown that the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) provided the project’s funding as part of an anti-terror grant. This raises the questions as to why people were mislead by senior officers into believing the cameras were installed for crime prevention …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged cctv and no2id | 4 Comments

Two for the freedom bill: seatbelts and drugs?

By Iain Roberts | Thu 29th July 2010 - 3:20 pm

Professor John Adams has submitted a Mill-esque proposal for the Government’s Freedom Bill.

Adams, author of “Risk”, explains on his blog:

The Cream Buns Act would remove all existing laws and regulations that proscribe behaviour that risks only the health or safety of mentally competent adult risk takers.

Two nominations for early repeal: the seat belt law and the set of laws criminalizing the sale or use of drugs. They merit priority not only because they pass the Cream Buns Test but, more importantly, because they have criminalized millions and can be shown to have had highly significant adverse consequences. The

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Posted in News | Also tagged john adams | 30 Comments

The Freedom Bill: this time the consultation is for real, but is it better?

By Mark Pack | Mon 5th July 2010 - 10:20 am

The Freedom Bill (previously known as the Great Repeal Bill) has been a Liberal Democrat policy for some time and now that we’re in coalition government it’s become the Your Freedom initiative – an online consultation to identify laws to repeal.

In two respects this is good news – online consultation is becoming more of a habit for government and it’s also becoming a welcome pattern to see long-standing Liberal Democrat demands move towards actual implementation by government.

But in one respect I think the Your Freedom site does not address a key issue as well as the party did when …

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Posted in Online politics and Op-eds | Also tagged darren lilleker and nigel jackson | 5 Comments

Nick Clegg launches “Your Freedom”

By Helen Duffett | Thu 1st July 2010 - 6:13 pm

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Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg | 23 Comments

The Tories and control orders: saying one thing, voting another way

By Stephen Tall | Tue 17th November 2009 - 6:45 pm

Control orders were introduced by Labour in 2005, and give the Home Secretary powers to impose a limitless range of restrictions on any person they suspect of involvement in terrorism.

As the Lib Dems noted in our proposed Freedom Bill, ‘The restrictions imposed by some control orders amount to house arrest and they can include controls on who a person can meet or speak to; when they can leave their house and where they can go. This undermines the freedom not only of those on control orders but of their families as well.’

Lib Dems are, unsurprisingly, opposed to Labour’s …

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Posted in News | Also tagged conservative party, control orders, pauline neville-jones and terrorism | 3 Comments

The Elephant Interviews… Mr Chris Huhne, Fighting for Freedom

By Millennium Elephant | Thu 16th April 2009 - 3:35 pm

Hello fluffy friends!

I hope that you have had a Happy Easter break and that you all watched new DOCTOR WHO.

But now, it is time for another interview. Short notice, this time, but if you can be in WESTMINSTER next TUESDAY, 21st April, at 5.15pm then this is your chance to put the questions to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Mr Chris Huhne.

We have not spoken to Mr Chris since the LEADERSHIP CONTEST, but since very nearly pipping Mr Clogg at the post, he has been working hard on the important Home Office and Civil Liberties brief.

Mr Huhne recently published …

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Posted in Blogger Interviews | Also tagged chris huhne | 2 Comments

Freedom Bill launched

By Mark Pack | Thu 26th February 2009 - 12:39 pm

Chris Huhne and colleagues have just finished a press conference in Cowley Street, launching the party’s draft Freedom Bill. As he writes for Comment is Free:

There has always been a problem for civil libertarians. The sacrifices of freedoms made by successive governments often seem small, particularly when they are pushed through at times of panic about terrorism. Each time, the government argues that you only need to give up a modest amount of freedom or rights to win greater security. And what could be more free than life itself? Yet the cumulative effects of this salami-slicing have now become deeply

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne and civil liberties | 7 Comments

Is the Today programme going to launch a political party?

By Mark Pack | Tue 19th December 2006 - 9:00 am

I only ask because, whilst it has become traditional for other political parties to copy Liberal Democrat policies, Today has now started doing the same.

Perhaps it is the start of a John Humphrys for Parliament campaign? (Though let’s hope he doesn’t find his attempt to vote for himself scuppered by the failure of his local council to remind him that he signed up for a postal vote; I mean – being told nine times by the council that you have a postal vote isn’t really often enough is it?)

In case you’re wondering if it is site value rating …

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Posted in News | Also tagged bbc radio 4, john humphrys and nick clegg | 3 Comments

Nick Clegg on the Freedom Bill

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th November 2006 - 10:52 pm

Nick has an article out today on the eGov monitor website about the Liberal Democrat proposals for a “Freedom Bill” which would axe unnecessary laws.

You can read more about the laws the Liberal Democrats would axe – and nominate your own – on the party’s website and you can watch Nick’s speech from conference where he launched the plans:

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg | 5 Comments

PM “trying to legislate his way in to history”

By The Voice | Wed 15th November 2006 - 11:49 am

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell has accused the Government of ‘statutory addiction’ and commented that this Queen’s Speech was ‘remarkably similar to those which have gone before’.

Menzies Campbell said:

After nearly ten years in office the government and the Prime Minister are still chasing the same elusive goals and the same elusive headlines.

This is a rush from judgement towards legislation. The government suffers from a statutory addiction.

This is a Prime Minister trying to legislate his way into history.
Before the Prime Minister was elected he told us that his priority was education, education, education.

Since he was elected his priority has proved to be legislation, legislation, legislation.

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Posted in News | Also tagged Ming Campbell and queen's speech | 2 Comments

Heads up: Campbell & Clegg to launch Freedom Bill at 10am

By the founding editor | Thu 9th November 2006 - 8:22 am

Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg will launch a “Freedom Bill” in Westminster this morning, calling for the repeal of 10 parliamentary acts passed since Labour came to power.

UPDATE: After that, Menzies Campbell and our shadow cabinet will gather for a strategy meeting in Henley-Upon-Thames from lunchtime Thursday to lunchtime Friday. According to Cowley Street “The party is preparing for a possible general election in October 2007”. I’ve heard there’s a good motivational speaker available in Henley…

Posted in News | Also tagged Ming Campbell and nick clegg | 10 Comments