Home Secretary moves to protect civil liberties

You might remember this post about Section 44, and this one, in which I mentioned that I and my car had been stopped and searched under Police Powers of Section 44 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2000).

At the time, I argued that:

"If we believe in liberal democracy, we have to hold out strongly for its values too. We weaken these values at great cost. Of course there is a balance between liberty and security and state intervention. But are we tipping this balance too far in one direction".

Yesterday, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, made an important Statement in the Commons - tipping the balance back in favour of civil liberties. She has suspended the use of Section 44. Crucially, it will mean the end of random stop and search as individuals will only be allowed to be searched if they are under suspicion.

My comments during the Statement, and the Home Secretary's reply are below:

Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con): Last December, I was subject to section 44—[ Interruption. ]Fortunately, I was sent away and everything was fine, but nevertheless I felt that my liberties as a citizen had been infringed on, and a sense of grievance, albeit a small one, against the authorities.[Interruption.] My great problem with what the previous Government did is this: if we believe in liberal democracy, we must also hold out strongly for its values. We weaken those values at great cost. Does the Secretary of State agree?

Mrs May: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. The shadow Police Minister, the right hon. Member for Delyn (Mr Hanson), mutters from a sedentary position, “It was random,” but that is the whole point of the European Court judgment. There needs to be a degree of suspicion if the police are to stop and search somebody. On the rest of my hon. Friend’s question, it is important for us to defend our civil liberties. I believe that that is the task of everybody in the House, and I am only sorry that the previous Government chose to infringe those civil liberties in some of their legislative decisions.

Michael Ellis (Northampton North) (Con): Does my right hon. Friend agree that, to be safe, we must keep the whole country on side and ensure that no group feels persecuted or victimised, and that today’s announcement is a welcome step in the right direction?

Mrs May: I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes an extremely valid point. It is in a sense an extension of the one made by my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Robert Halfon)—notably, one difficulty was that parts of the community felt that the way in which the stop-and-search powers were used was disproportionate. The concerns were such that they began to bring into disrepute the police’s ability to keep us safe at the same time as we, as a Parliament, maintained our civil liberties.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com