June 13, 2008
There is a lot of chatter these days about the loss of our civil liberties and mention is always made of Magna Carta…
What are these civil liberties that I am supposed to have lost? The only thing that remotely affects me is no longer being able to donate blood because I have MS. So the blood transfusion service think that there is a possibility that MS could be transmitted in blood products….hmmm….infection…antibiotics? But do I think that the state is interfering with my civil liberties – emphatically no!
I find it truly ridiculous that Magna Carta is trotted out by the civil libertarians, Magna Carta enshrined the rights of the barons versus the rights of the monarch and had nothing to say about the common people.
Habeas corpus is the thing and that has not been rescinded, if needed after 14 days detention the police can already seek an exception and get 28 days to gather evidence. The Terrorism Bill seeks to add the provision of another period of 14 days to this as an exception and as I understand it this has to be authorised by the Home Secretary. As far as I am concerned there are adequate checks and balances on the whole process to safeguard the rights of the individual and the safety of the nation.
As for David Davis, the man has been frozen out by Cameron and has nothing to lose and everything to gain from the publicity of his action. He’ll come back like Michael Heseltine to be the leader in waiting of the Tory Party. It’s nothing but an ego trip.
Filed under Rambles