THE PRINCIPLED STAND OF DAVID DAVIES
Three items of news this week, a meeting was being convened to identify and honour the names in an old photograph, Labour members of parliament imprisoned as conscientious objectors in the First World War
The Conservative MP and Shadow Spokesman David Davis has resigned his seat on a point of principle and intends to fight a by-election in protest and the extension of pre-charge detention to 42 days allied as it is to the steady erosion of our basic freedoms and civil liberties.
Thirdly we have witnessed the disgusting spectacle of ‘pork barrel’ concessions being extended to the Ulster Unionists and other sundry MP’s in exchange for the erosion of fundamental civil liberties; and all for what, to gain some populist votes by wrong footing the Tories to make them look weak on security, with the added bonus of favourable editorials in the Sun newspaper.
When told of Mr Davis’s stand Mr ‘rent a quote,’ Denis MacShane described it as a ‘stunt,’ a description now taken up by the Prime Minister. One can only assume that these people would describe the actions of Labour members after 1914 in the same terms.
As I write this it would seem that the only candidate so far willing to stand against Mr Davis is the shameless self publicist Kelvin McKenzie, whom it would seem, is going to fight the by-election funded by a foreign national, a certain Mr Rupert Murdoch. Are there not electoral laws against that sort of thing?
Now I do not care about the ignorant and morally bankrupt Mr McKenzie, a man incidentally who having printed the most appalling lies after the Hillsborough disaster stated:-
"When I published those stories, they were not lies. They were great stories that later turned out to be untrue - and that is different. What am I supposed to feel ashamed about?”
But I care very deeply for the fundamental freedoms that this government has steadily been eroding. Mr Davis has little to gain and everything to loose by his stance, he is acting out of principle.
This perhaps explains the incredulity of Mr MacShane and the variety of other political sycophants, cynics and Westminster Village pundits for whom such a stance is wholly incomprehensible.
The Conservative MP and Shadow Spokesman David Davis has resigned his seat on a point of principle and intends to fight a by-election in protest and the extension of pre-charge detention to 42 days allied as it is to the steady erosion of our basic freedoms and civil liberties.
Thirdly we have witnessed the disgusting spectacle of ‘pork barrel’ concessions being extended to the Ulster Unionists and other sundry MP’s in exchange for the erosion of fundamental civil liberties; and all for what, to gain some populist votes by wrong footing the Tories to make them look weak on security, with the added bonus of favourable editorials in the Sun newspaper.
When told of Mr Davis’s stand Mr ‘rent a quote,’ Denis MacShane described it as a ‘stunt,’ a description now taken up by the Prime Minister. One can only assume that these people would describe the actions of Labour members after 1914 in the same terms.
As I write this it would seem that the only candidate so far willing to stand against Mr Davis is the shameless self publicist Kelvin McKenzie, whom it would seem, is going to fight the by-election funded by a foreign national, a certain Mr Rupert Murdoch. Are there not electoral laws against that sort of thing?
Now I do not care about the ignorant and morally bankrupt Mr McKenzie, a man incidentally who having printed the most appalling lies after the Hillsborough disaster stated:-
"When I published those stories, they were not lies. They were great stories that later turned out to be untrue - and that is different. What am I supposed to feel ashamed about?”
But I care very deeply for the fundamental freedoms that this government has steadily been eroding. Mr Davis has little to gain and everything to loose by his stance, he is acting out of principle.
This perhaps explains the incredulity of Mr MacShane and the variety of other political sycophants, cynics and Westminster Village pundits for whom such a stance is wholly incomprehensible.
