Labour has let this country down twice in the space of a week
3:52pm Wednesday 2nd July 2008
I STRONGLY believe that it is Parliament's duty to defend freedom. If we do not do that, what is the point of a democratic system? It is deeply worrying, therefore, that the British people have been let down, not once but twice last week, by the Labour Government.
First, Gordon Brown just scraped a victory - by only nine votes - in the House of Commons on the issue of whether suspected terrorists should be detained without charge for up to 42 days. By some means or other the Prime Minister managed to persuade the DUP to follow him into the lobby. He had to do that because a significant number of his own back-benchers put their belief in freedom, rightly, above their loyalty to their weak leader and refused to vote with him.
So, one of our fundamental freedoms - the right not to be imprisoned without charge - has been massively undermined. I strongly support the determined fight against terrorism - but it is Parliament's duty to balance the need for security against the need to preserve the fundamental rights we are fighting to defend.
At the same time as the Commons were voting on this freedom issue, the House of Lords were debating the other freedom issue. They voted against giving the British people a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. This Labour Government were elected three years ago on a promise to give the people a say on whether Britain should give away to the European Union even more of our powers to govern ourselves. Now they are ignoring their promise and, in spite of the decisive vote in Ireland against the Treaty, they want to move on with ratification. That is simply dishonest.
Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest