Kennedy: Government power must be curbed to protect civil liberties
Labour’s draconian response to the perceived terrorist threat shows it cannot be trusted to protect vital civil liberties and that Government power must be curbed, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said today.
In a speech setting out his party’s stance on constitutional issues – which includes support for a written constitution and privacy impact assessments for all legislation – Mr Kennedy said Labour had gone too far in trying to protect Britain from terrorists.
Many British people were “dismayed” by measures such as the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects on the say-so of politicians, he added.
“The threats posed by international terrorism may well require in time of emergency and for limited periods to take exceptional measures regarding civil liberties.
“Balancing these two elements – safety and our individual citizen’s rights – requires very careful political judgement.”
He claimed that the Government had failed to find that balance and was acting in an “increasingly unaccountable and presidential-style”.
This highlighted the need for greater protection of fundamental rights, Mr Kennedy said.
Outlining Liberal Democrats measures to curb the power of the Executive, he added: “Making sure ministers, civil servants and the laws they produce are subject to robust democratic checks and balances is a key to ensuring Britain’s civil liberties.”
The Liberal Democrats would abolish the royal prerogative, which gives the Queen the power to appoint ministers, declare war, pardon prisoners and dissolve Parliament, although in practice most of these powers are exercised by the Prime Minister.
They would also ensure that every law introduced to Parliament would be checked by the Information Commissioner to see if it would damage people’s right to privacy.
Mr Kennedy added that the debate on civil liberties was leading to the old political terms ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ being superseded by ‘liberal’ and ‘illiberal’ – those whose who sought to deal with complex problems by seeking a balance between safety and rights, and those whose response was authoritarian – and promised to offer Britain “the politics of hope”.
