Rights and the Right
I’ve been away for the weekend and was thinking about David Davies’s extraordinary decision to resign and contest a by-election on the issue of 42-day detention for terrorist suspects, and apparently also on ‘the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this Government.’
He is of course correct about both 42 days and the general sense of erosion of civil liberties through such matters as extensive use of CCTV and the introduction of ID cards. It’s been one of the most disappointing aspects of New Labour governments that they’ve taken on the agenda of strong state control without much question, and it needs to be challenged.
There’s only one problem. The man’s a Tory.
Both the Right and the Left of British politics have a problem with civil liberties, of course. For the Left, the dilemma is about the extent to which individual freedoms should be limited in pursuit of the common good. For the Right, it’s about how to ensure the continued production of surplus value (directly or indirectly) while also allowing us enough autonomy to stave off a revolution.
However, as a working person, I find it useful to take the view that if a Conservative appears as if he is going to act in my interests then I should be very very suspicious indeed. Thanks to the magnificent TheyWorkForYou, it’s possible to look up Davies’s voting record. For example:
· He did, of course, vote for the Iraq war. So much for the civil liberties of the Iraqi people, but perhaps foreigners don’t need them;
· He voted against the hunting ban, but again perhaps animals don’t have rights;
· He voted against the equalisation of the age of consent, against the repeal of section 28, and was absent for votes on civil partnership; but gay men and lesbians don’t need rights either.
And there’s even a slight glitch in his speech explaining why he resigned, with a reference to ‘so-called hate laws’: well, I’m sure they come in handy if you’re being harassed on grounds of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or religion, none of which are likely to apply to Mr Davies. To be fair, he voted against ID cards and also against the introduction of student top-up fees, but both will affect his middle class constituents. On the other hand, the Independent reports that he 'supports the death penalty for premeditated murder'. Which probably won't.
It was surprising to see Liberty appearing to welcome his stance. If I can dig up a few disturbing items from half an hour on the internet in my spare time, I would have thought their staff could have made some more extensive checks before allowing their Director to state that: ‘…democrats from across the spectrum care passionately about rights and freedoms. MPs of all parties hold courage and conviction about these values and few more so than David Davis.’
Davies is in favour of civil liberties for people like him. And the by-election stunt should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
8 comments:
I'm with you on this Jenny, his voting record smacks his altruism down on the ground.
the one good thing is it has brought the futher erosion of civil liberties into the floodlights.
XO
WWW
WWW suggested on my blog the intriguing possibility that it was actually pre-planned with Tory leader David Cameron. Although Cameron is acting furious, the tactic has seriously embarrassed the Labour government, who seem unsure how to respond and whether to put up a Labour candidate against him.
www - given he's done it and there will be a by-election, I think the Left should try to find a non-aligned candidate who would draw wide support and who could take up the issue in Parliamenet with more credibility. The best candidate would be Tony Benn, but I don't suppose he could be persuaded!
Nick - I always believe cock-up over conspiracy where politicians are concerned. Conspiracies come from unelected forces, IMO (that makes me sound very paranoid!)
Your post has spurred me on to research my previous gut reaction - that it was an act of integrity, regardless of party affiliation. The apparent hypocrisy of his position is striking.
Thank you for a truly thought-provoking post.
Maybe you can argue he's hypocritical in that he promotes civil liberties while apparently denying them to certain groups of people, but you could argue the same of the Labour government, who consistently harass migrants and asylum-seekers and forcibly deport them to extremely dangerous countries.
FG - Thanks! And Nick, I'm not saying Labour don't deserve to be challenged, and I agree with you on deportations. I did try to find out Davies's record on immigration but it's not highlighted and means going through his entire voting record on TheyWorkForYou, but he's not flagged as rebelling on Conservative policy, which as we know isn't particularly liberal (no pun intended).
"He did, of course, vote for the Iraq war. So much for the civil liberties of the Iraqi people, but perhaps foreigners don’t need them;
• He voted against the hunting ban, but again perhaps animals don’t have rights;"
Jenny the man may be wrong on a lot of things but none of the above marks him out as authoritarian at all. I mean this bit 'So much for the civil liberties of the Iraqi people, but perhaps foreigners don’t need them'. Are you realistically saying that Iraqi people had decent rights under Saddam? Come on. As to the hunting ban, well why should an urban elite seek to challenge the way rural folk live. Perhaps we should just leave the foxes to be run over on our roads instead? I understand the point you are making but the examples you include hardly illustrate it at all.
Hi Paul - it's not so much that he's authoritarian, it's more that (as with lots of people I've met during my life) his concept of civil liberties doesn't extend beyond what might affect him or his supporters, hence my examples of animals and foreigners as being outside that. In terms of the intrinsic merit of the arguments, I think Iraq has turned out to be out of the frying pan into the fire, and in terms of aniamls, there's a big difference between accidental death and being hunted for sport (to say nothing of the effect on the humans doing it). But I know you are arguing respectfully, so any better examples will be put up as a P.S. on the main post!
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