Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Nick Clegg finds some cojones
This morning's news that Nick Clegg has demanded changes to plans to hold court hearings in secret and that the Government has started to retreat on its plans to monitor digital communications, are very welcome.
I was one of many Liberal Democrats who publicly condemned moves to monitor e-mail and internet traffic and was horrified by the official response from Home Office Minister, Lynne Featherstone that it was okay because the Government would not read the content of any communication. Such an assurance spectacularly missed the point.
Now we are told by the Deputy Prime Minister that these contentious measures will be published only in draft form and will be subject to widespread consultation. These concessions could delay the proposals for at least a year and hopefully will kill them off for good.
I am with the 17 Liberal Democrat MPs who wrote to the Independent today to welcome Nick Clegg's intervention but who also warned him that their support can not be taken for granted on the issue.
On the issue of secret court hearings, Nick Clegg appears to have learnt the lesson of the earlier debacle and launched a pre-emptive strike. He has written to the National Security Council to say judges, not ministers, should decide if cases are heard behind closed doors.
We will see how things develop but at the moment at least I am happy that the Liberal Democrats are asserting their liberalism within the coalition once more.
I was one of many Liberal Democrats who publicly condemned moves to monitor e-mail and internet traffic and was horrified by the official response from Home Office Minister, Lynne Featherstone that it was okay because the Government would not read the content of any communication. Such an assurance spectacularly missed the point.
Now we are told by the Deputy Prime Minister that these contentious measures will be published only in draft form and will be subject to widespread consultation. These concessions could delay the proposals for at least a year and hopefully will kill them off for good.
I am with the 17 Liberal Democrat MPs who wrote to the Independent today to welcome Nick Clegg's intervention but who also warned him that their support can not be taken for granted on the issue.
On the issue of secret court hearings, Nick Clegg appears to have learnt the lesson of the earlier debacle and launched a pre-emptive strike. He has written to the National Security Council to say judges, not ministers, should decide if cases are heard behind closed doors.
We will see how things develop but at the moment at least I am happy that the Liberal Democrats are asserting their liberalism within the coalition once more.
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"This morning's news that Nick Clegg has demanded changes to plans to hold court hearings in secret and that the Government has started to retreat on its plans to monitor digital communications, are very welcome."
Immensely so. Thank the Lord for the Lib-Dems.
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Immensely so. Thank the Lord for the Lib-Dems.
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: 6:48 AM
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