British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today pledged the boldest rolling back of the state in 180 years, promising to axe the communist Labour's Big Brother Britain as well as move to make sweeping political and electoral reforms.
Clegg, who is in charge of constitutional affairs, claimed his proposals are the 'most significant programme of empowerment' since the Great Reform Act of 1832, when Earl Grey was Prime Minister and the eccentric King William IV, who had a habit of spitting in public (Prime Minister David Cameron is his direct descendant), was on the Throne, which extended voting rights beyond the landed gentry. He said the coalition government will scrap the unpopular ID cards, limit the use of CCTV cameras and stop abuse of anti-terror laws.
The UK, which was once a beacon of democracy and civil liberties, has around 5 million CCTV cameras, about a FIFTH of the entire world total. Wandsworth, which is just a London borough, has 1,113 CCTV cameras which, incredibly, is more than the total number of cameras in use in the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Johannesburg and Dublin combined. The small town of Corby in Northamptonshire has 90 CCTV cameras, whereas San Francisco has 71. Clegg promised that the "Demservative" government will regulate CCTV use.
Another breach of civil liberties introduced by the Labour Government (which was full of former Marxists, Trotskyists and Stalinists) is the DNA database. This holds DNA collected at crime scenes and from samples taken from suspects in police stations. The database is used to quickly identify offenders, make earlier arrests and secure more convictions, but many innocent people are on the list. Britain's DNA database is the the largest in the world, with 5.2% of the people on it, compared to just 0.5% in the US. Clegg promises that innocent people's DNA will be taken off the database.
During his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister, speaking at City and Islington College in London, said that the Tory-Lib coalition government would be one that ‘is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state.'
'As we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has: We will ask you which laws you think should go.’
We'll roll back the Big Brother state with 'big bang' reforms, pledges Clegg
By Gerri Peev
19th May 2010
Daily Mail
The Deputy Prime Minister outlined how he will take the axe to Labour' Big Brother Britain as well as move to make sweeping political and electoral reforms.
Mr Clegg - who seized the constitutional brief as part of the coalition deal - claimed his proposals are the 'most significant programme of empowerment' since the Great Reform Act of 1832 which extended voting rights beyond the landed gentry.
Under his plans, innocent people will no longer have their DNA held on a database indefinitely, ID cards will be scrapped, CCTV will be regulated and there will be a clampdown on the abuse of anti-terror laws which have been dubbed a 'snoops' charter'.
Shake-up: Nick Clegg at City and Islington College today as he outlined plans for major political reform
Libel laws will be shaken up and limits on peaceful protests will be lifted - meaning that the illegal encampment of anti-war demonstrators on Parliament’s doorstep could become a permanent fixture.
People will also be able to decide which unnecessary laws should be torn up, trial by jury will be defended and 'pointless' new criminal offences blocked.
Major plans for political reform include fixed term parliaments, a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote system and a partly or wholly elected House of Lords.
In his first keynote speech as a Cabinet minister, the Lib Dem leader said: ‘Incremental change will not do. It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform.
‘This government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state.'
Mr Clegg claimed it would herald a ‘fundamental resettlement of the relationship between state and citizen that puts you in charge’.
The first session of the newly reformed House of Commons on 5 February 1833, held in St Stephen's Chapel which was destroyed, along with most of the rest of the Houses of Parliament, by the fire of 1834. The reforms were brought about by the 1832 Great Reform Act.
He said it was ‘outrageous’ that law-abiding people were treated as though they had something to hide.
'It has to stop. So there will be no ID card scheme. No national identity register, no second generation biometric passports.’
Email and internet records would also not be held - a proposal floated by Brussels. Children’s rights to privacy will also be extended.
‘We will end practices that risk making Britain a place where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question,' Mr Clegg said.
‘There will be no ContactPoint children’s database. Schools will not take children’s fingerprints without even asking their parent’s consent.’
The Tory-Lib government would be one that ‘is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state’,' he said.
'As we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has: We will ask you which laws you think should go.’
The thousands of criminal offences created by Labour had not made Britain’s streets safer, he said. ‘Obsessive lawmaking simply makes criminals out of ordinary people,' he said.
'This Government is going to be unlike any other, he continued. 'This Government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state.
'This Government is going to break up concentrations of power and hand power back to people, because that is how we build a society that is fair.'
CLEGG'S BIG PLANS AT-A-GLANCE
A referendum will ask the people if they back the Alternative Vote system instead of the current first-past-the-post set-up, he said.
'My position is clear - the current system of first-past-the-post is a major block to lasting political change,' he said.
'Millions of people see their votes simply go to waste. Is it any surprise that with a system like that we end up with politicians out of touch with the people they serve?'
The Deputy PM added that he was 'very relaxed' that he and David Cameron would be arguing from different positions in the run up to the referendum because the Tories want to keep FPTP.
He also countered criticism of plans to make it impossible for Parliament to be dissolved unless 55 per cent of MPs agree, claiming it was 'wrong' for Government's to fix election dates.
The move 'strikes the right balance for our Parliament', he said. Critics were 'completely missing the point', he argued.
'This is a new right for Parliament, additional to the existing powers of no confidence. We are not taking away Parliament's right to throw out government.
We are taking away Government's right to throw out Parliament.'
Further moves will see the public given the power of recall over MPs who break the rules, a statutory register of lobbyists and a limit on donations to political parties to tackle 'vested interests'.
Mr Clegg said: 'So long as big money continues to hollow out our democracy, everybody loses.'
The coalition government yesterday also agreed to roll out the Big Society agenda that had been trumpeted by David Cameron during the election.
It involves encouraging volunteers to run community services and give power to residents over planning rules.
Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg - who had attacked the Tory leader’s Big Society plans during the election campaign - met community figures from across the country at a meeting around the Cabinet table.
Although the policy had been blamed for scaring off supporters, the Prime Minister yesterday signalled he wanted to entrench more community involvement.
‘It's something I would like to be one of the great legacies of this government, to build the big society,' he said.
Mr Clegg also played down his previous criticism of the Big Society.
‘What I'm discovering is we've been using different words for a long time - it actually means the same thing. Liberalism, big society.
Empowerment, responsibility. It means the same thing.’
His comments struck a distinctly different note to those he was making during the election campaign.
In one pre-election interview, on May 2, Mr Clegg said: ‘What is this big society? It is a big society with a price tag attached. It's a bit like inviting someone to a party in a pub and finding that it's your card behind the bar paying for everyone's drinks.’
dailymail.co.uk
Clegg, who is in charge of constitutional affairs, claimed his proposals are the 'most significant programme of empowerment' since the Great Reform Act of 1832, when Earl Grey was Prime Minister and the eccentric King William IV, who had a habit of spitting in public (Prime Minister David Cameron is his direct descendant), was on the Throne, which extended voting rights beyond the landed gentry. He said the coalition government will scrap the unpopular ID cards, limit the use of CCTV cameras and stop abuse of anti-terror laws.
The UK, which was once a beacon of democracy and civil liberties, has around 5 million CCTV cameras, about a FIFTH of the entire world total. Wandsworth, which is just a London borough, has 1,113 CCTV cameras which, incredibly, is more than the total number of cameras in use in the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Johannesburg and Dublin combined. The small town of Corby in Northamptonshire has 90 CCTV cameras, whereas San Francisco has 71. Clegg promised that the "Demservative" government will regulate CCTV use.
Another breach of civil liberties introduced by the Labour Government (which was full of former Marxists, Trotskyists and Stalinists) is the DNA database. This holds DNA collected at crime scenes and from samples taken from suspects in police stations. The database is used to quickly identify offenders, make earlier arrests and secure more convictions, but many innocent people are on the list. Britain's DNA database is the the largest in the world, with 5.2% of the people on it, compared to just 0.5% in the US. Clegg promises that innocent people's DNA will be taken off the database.
During his speech, the Deputy Prime Minister, speaking at City and Islington College in London, said that the Tory-Lib coalition government would be one that ‘is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state.'
'As we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has: We will ask you which laws you think should go.’
We'll roll back the Big Brother state with 'big bang' reforms, pledges Clegg
By Gerri Peev
19th May 2010
Daily Mail
- Clegg: We'll scrap ID cards, limit CCTV and stop abuse of anti-terror laws
- Referendum on Alternative Vote and new, fairer constituency boundaries
- Deputy PM insists first-past-the-post system 'blocks' political reform
- He pledges to replace the Lords with an elected second chamber
- Clegg says fixed term parliaments are not a fix and will strike 'right balance'
- Statutory register of lobbyists and a power of recall of MPs
The Deputy Prime Minister outlined how he will take the axe to Labour' Big Brother Britain as well as move to make sweeping political and electoral reforms.
Mr Clegg - who seized the constitutional brief as part of the coalition deal - claimed his proposals are the 'most significant programme of empowerment' since the Great Reform Act of 1832 which extended voting rights beyond the landed gentry.
Under his plans, innocent people will no longer have their DNA held on a database indefinitely, ID cards will be scrapped, CCTV will be regulated and there will be a clampdown on the abuse of anti-terror laws which have been dubbed a 'snoops' charter'.
Shake-up: Nick Clegg at City and Islington College today as he outlined plans for major political reform
Libel laws will be shaken up and limits on peaceful protests will be lifted - meaning that the illegal encampment of anti-war demonstrators on Parliament’s doorstep could become a permanent fixture.
People will also be able to decide which unnecessary laws should be torn up, trial by jury will be defended and 'pointless' new criminal offences blocked.
Major plans for political reform include fixed term parliaments, a referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote system and a partly or wholly elected House of Lords.
In his first keynote speech as a Cabinet minister, the Lib Dem leader said: ‘Incremental change will not do. It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform.
‘This government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state.'
Mr Clegg claimed it would herald a ‘fundamental resettlement of the relationship between state and citizen that puts you in charge’.
The first session of the newly reformed House of Commons on 5 February 1833, held in St Stephen's Chapel which was destroyed, along with most of the rest of the Houses of Parliament, by the fire of 1834. The reforms were brought about by the 1832 Great Reform Act.
He said it was ‘outrageous’ that law-abiding people were treated as though they had something to hide.
'It has to stop. So there will be no ID card scheme. No national identity register, no second generation biometric passports.’
Email and internet records would also not be held - a proposal floated by Brussels. Children’s rights to privacy will also be extended.
‘We will end practices that risk making Britain a place where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question,' Mr Clegg said.
‘There will be no ContactPoint children’s database. Schools will not take children’s fingerprints without even asking their parent’s consent.’
The Tory-Lib government would be one that ‘is proud when British citizens stand up against illegitimate advances of the state’,' he said.
'As we tear through the statute book, we’ll do something no government ever has: We will ask you which laws you think should go.’
The thousands of criminal offences created by Labour had not made Britain’s streets safer, he said. ‘Obsessive lawmaking simply makes criminals out of ordinary people,' he said.
'This Government is going to be unlike any other, he continued. 'This Government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state.
'This Government is going to break up concentrations of power and hand power back to people, because that is how we build a society that is fair.'
CLEGG'S BIG PLANS AT-A-GLANCE
- Labour's ID card scheme, the national identity register and ContactPoint children's database will all be scrapped (AGREED)
- House of Lords to be elected on 'proportional' voting system to rebalance the Upper House (AGREED)
- Referendum on changing the voting system from First-Past-The-Post to Alternative Vote (CONFLICT - Lib Dems want AV, Tories don't)
- Public power of recall over MPs and a statutory register of lobbyists to help clean up politic (AGREED)
- Donations to political parties to be limited but no figure was given (POSSIBLE CONFLICT - Lib Dems want £10,000 cap, Tories £50,000)
A referendum will ask the people if they back the Alternative Vote system instead of the current first-past-the-post set-up, he said.
'My position is clear - the current system of first-past-the-post is a major block to lasting political change,' he said.
'Millions of people see their votes simply go to waste. Is it any surprise that with a system like that we end up with politicians out of touch with the people they serve?'
The Deputy PM added that he was 'very relaxed' that he and David Cameron would be arguing from different positions in the run up to the referendum because the Tories want to keep FPTP.
He also countered criticism of plans to make it impossible for Parliament to be dissolved unless 55 per cent of MPs agree, claiming it was 'wrong' for Government's to fix election dates.
The move 'strikes the right balance for our Parliament', he said. Critics were 'completely missing the point', he argued.
'This is a new right for Parliament, additional to the existing powers of no confidence. We are not taking away Parliament's right to throw out government.
We are taking away Government's right to throw out Parliament.'
Further moves will see the public given the power of recall over MPs who break the rules, a statutory register of lobbyists and a limit on donations to political parties to tackle 'vested interests'.
Mr Clegg said: 'So long as big money continues to hollow out our democracy, everybody loses.'
The coalition government yesterday also agreed to roll out the Big Society agenda that had been trumpeted by David Cameron during the election.
It involves encouraging volunteers to run community services and give power to residents over planning rules.
Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg - who had attacked the Tory leader’s Big Society plans during the election campaign - met community figures from across the country at a meeting around the Cabinet table.
Although the policy had been blamed for scaring off supporters, the Prime Minister yesterday signalled he wanted to entrench more community involvement.
‘It's something I would like to be one of the great legacies of this government, to build the big society,' he said.
Mr Clegg also played down his previous criticism of the Big Society.
‘What I'm discovering is we've been using different words for a long time - it actually means the same thing. Liberalism, big society.
Empowerment, responsibility. It means the same thing.’
His comments struck a distinctly different note to those he was making during the election campaign.
In one pre-election interview, on May 2, Mr Clegg said: ‘What is this big society? It is a big society with a price tag attached. It's a bit like inviting someone to a party in a pub and finding that it's your card behind the bar paying for everyone's drinks.’
dailymail.co.uk
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