Why Britain's new coalition is good news for civil liberties

One of the greatest disappointments of the 1997 - 2010 Labour government was its appalling record on civil liberties. It seemed to seek every opportunity to extend the power of the state over the individual. Photographers were arrested for taking photos of public buildings. Hecklers were dragged out of the Labour party conference. And successive home secretaries sought to extend dramatically the time suspects could be detailed without being charged.

Much of this was justified under the catch all justification of fighting terrorism. There's no doubt Britain faced a significant threat from terrorists. But the erosion of civil liberties could not be justified.

So the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's promise to scrap ID cards, change the DNA database regulations and reform the libel laws is very welcome. Just this week we had another example of the tyranny of the state, when Paul Chambers was charged and fined under the Communications ACt for making a joke on Twitter about blowing up an airport. Paul was foolish, but anyone with a braincell would have recognised that he was no threat to anyone. But the apparatus of the state was deployed to punish him for a silly joke. Let's hope a new culture of sanity develops. And the new government lives up to its promises. 

Siân Sargant's blogpost on the Paul Chambers case, and what it says about Britain's civil liberties record, is well worth reading.