Oaten stands tough on terror measures
The government will receive “no blank cheques” from the Liberal Democrats over its new anti-terror laws, Mark Oaten warned today.
The Lib Dem home affairs spokesman said the party would support measures on terrorism but only if they were effective, did not encroach on principles of justice and were subject to full parliamentary scrutiny.
“Today we send a message to the home secretary – yes, we will try to work with you. But we will defend the values of liberty of this country,” he said.
In the wake of the London attacks on July 7th, the Lib Dems agreed to measures making it an offence to train terrorists, to prepare for a terrorist attack of to incite terrorism in Britain.
But Mr Oaten told the annual conference in Blackpool that the proposed offence of glorifying terrorism, announced by Charles Clarke last week, was “dangerous” and he could not support it.
Nor could he support plans to hold people for three months without charge, saying it was “an illiberal proposal bringing back internment to this country”.
“Labour tells us we must give up our hard-fought freedom and our civil liberties in exchange for more security. But if we abandon traditions and values like the right to a fair trial, we are giving in to terrorists,” he said.
It was vital that anti-terrorism measures be effective, not just “showpiece”, Mr Oaten said, and this included looking not just at new laws but also asking difficult questions.
“So much of Labour’s response to the events of July 7th has focused on deportation that you would be forgiven for thinking the bombers were foreign,” he said.
“They weren’t. They were British – born and bred. Britain created them. And they turned on us.”
The government must look at the anger caused among young Muslims by the war in Iraq, while it must also look at the “mosaic society” in Britain where communities existed isolated from each other.
“We must make new Britons feel that this is their society,” Mr Oaten warned, adding that bringing people into politics was also vital to improving integration.
He said: “Terrorism plays on these gaps in our society; on our ignorance of each other’s way of life; on our lack of confidence as a society about who we are and what we stand for.
“If we want to create a safer society, then it is our job to address these problems. We must work to address the genuine concerns that individuals have about the state of multiculturalism.”
