Fugley said "..do you want to drag us back to the dark ages". Well, UK Conservative MP David Davis does, in so far as we approach the birthday of the Magna Carta (First signed at Runnymede June 15, then formalized July 15, 1215) he warns us we might lose it.
It's good to be reminded sometimes that just because history marches forwards, doesn't mean we are.
Britain might think the Magna Carta is no longer relevant, and yet, increasingly we see the idea floated that perhaps, as a mark of respect for cultural diversity, or even as a passing nod to the pragmatic, or finally, as merely accepting something that is becoming the norm in certain segments of society, restrictions to civil liberties will only apply to those that decline to be governed under shari'a law.
Twenty years ago, that statement would be meet with howls of derision. Five years ago, snide remarks about how I fail to distinguish between a few radical elements that are loud but ineffectual and "mainstream" Islam. Today I'll simply be branded as overly paranoid, guilty of hate speech or simply foolish.
Perhaps. But times, they are a'changing. And this latest move in the UK is just another step at increasing government powers without addressing underlying causes. David Davis is right to push this topic into the debate. He plays an interesting strategy, and we'll see how important this issue is to Brittan over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Ireland has also put the brakes on big government, rejecting the Lisbon Treaty yesterday. Let me find the Irish Whiskey or a Guinness. This calls for a celebration.
Related Link: David Davis Resigns
Related Link: David Davis MP blog
It's good to be reminded sometimes that just because history marches forwards, doesn't mean we are.
This Sunday is the anniversary of Magna Carta, a document that guarantees the fundamental element of British freedom, habeas corpus. The right not to be imprisoned by the state without charge or reason.The solution isn't always "more government". The left have painted this latest move as a raft of necessary changes for the sake of national security. National security is important, but the left should be asking how did it get to be such an important issue?
But yesterday this house allowed the state to lock up potentially innocent citizens for up to six weeks without charge.
I will fight it, I will argue this by-election against the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this Government.
Now, that may mean I’ve made my last speech to the House, possibly, and of course that would be a cause of deep regret to me but at least my electorate and the nation as a whole would have had the opportunity to debate and consider one of the most fundamental issues of our day: the ever intrusive power of the state into our lives, the loss of privacy, the loss of freedom and the steady attrition undermining the rule of law.
Britain might think the Magna Carta is no longer relevant, and yet, increasingly we see the idea floated that perhaps, as a mark of respect for cultural diversity, or even as a passing nod to the pragmatic, or finally, as merely accepting something that is becoming the norm in certain segments of society, restrictions to civil liberties will only apply to those that decline to be governed under shari'a law.
Twenty years ago, that statement would be meet with howls of derision. Five years ago, snide remarks about how I fail to distinguish between a few radical elements that are loud but ineffectual and "mainstream" Islam. Today I'll simply be branded as overly paranoid, guilty of hate speech or simply foolish.
Perhaps. But times, they are a'changing. And this latest move in the UK is just another step at increasing government powers without addressing underlying causes. David Davis is right to push this topic into the debate. He plays an interesting strategy, and we'll see how important this issue is to Brittan over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, Ireland has also put the brakes on big government, rejecting the Lisbon Treaty yesterday. Let me find the Irish Whiskey or a Guinness. This calls for a celebration.
Related Link: David Davis Resigns
Related Link: David Davis MP blog
The left have done this ? No, Gordon Brown and the nebulous centrist body that is the labour party have done it. When Bush is doing much the same in the US and the same has been done in the past by conservative and leftist governments alike, I think it's false to say this is the platform of any particular creed, its merely security over-anxiety which can occur in any government.
ReplyDeleteAnyway the number of people that have actually read the Magna Carta and the relevancy of most of clauses are actually very minor and outdated. I like this one best :
(11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly.
I like the one about the State not being able to commandeer some-one's horse, or to take it without payment.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I see the state willing today to take a car, potentially belonging to the father of a kid caught speeding, and I shudder.
Glenn Greenwald has an excellent essay on this. I quote:
ReplyDeleteThe contrast between the British Right and the American Right could not be more glaring. The former is at least mildly faithful to the principles they espouse, while the latter has morphed completely into an authoritarian, government-power-worshipping faction that fantasizes it's waging glorious war against -- to use Antonin Scalia's politicized term -- "radical Islamists," but which is only at war with its own claimed principles and the principles on which the country was founded.
The article is here -http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/13/conservatism/index.html - you may have to click thru an ad.
What is extraordinary is that 'small govt' conservatives will vote for McCain.