Shadow Home Secretary David Davis resigns from the House of Commons over the proposed new 42-day detention without charge limit for those suspected of terrorist offences. His resignation triggers a by-election, in which Mr Davis hopes to be re-elected on a platform “against the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this government.”
I don’t have time to write an essay, but I am so moved by this gesture that I couldn’t let it pass uncommented. My Conservative friend William thinks my reaction is hilarious, and wants to know if he can count on my vote in the next general election. I find it funny that, in this day in age, we find ourselves relying on the Conservative Party and the House of Lords – two political institutions I’ve rarely had good words for – to protect civil liberties and stand up against a revised limit that even our own Lord Advocate finds unnecessary.
ETA: Alex Massie weighs in brilliantly on this topic: “There’s something rotten, and indeed adolescent, about a political culture that asks politicians to be braver, more honest, more principled but then declares any actual declaration of principle the action of a madman.”
I would be moved by his gesture if I thought for one second it was motivated by anything other than the desire to show the media how good the tories are at winning by-elections these days. I honestly don’t believe for a second that this can be regarded as a referendum on the issue considering this is a seat Labour couldn’t win in 1997, and now the Lib Dems have decided not to run against him (again I suspect this is more them wanting to get on the right side of this and avoid being drubbed themselves) Davis cannot lose the By-Election.
I am not a labour supporter and am myself no fan of the bill itself, but I can’t see how this is anything other than a cheap ploy by a publicity hungry party.
But who knows.
Knowing absolutely nothing about the context or how the government works in your part of the world…sounds good to me! I love the phrase he used, “slow strangulation…” etc.
@Paul: I completely see where you’re coming from, and normally I’m the biggest cynic in the bunch when it comes to politics in general and the Tories in particular, but Davis strikes me as one of those politicians you can take at face value. I’m sure there’s nothing that isn’t a calculated stunt to a degree, but I feel in my gut this is more to do with principle than anything else. I’d still never vote for them though.
@Sara: The wonderful language is what’s gotten me most convinced. It’s lazy to equate the Conservatives with Republicans and Labour with Democrats, because we’re not a two-party country and those two main parties have moved so close to the centre in recent years as to be almost indistinguishable in many regards. But I really appreciate it when politicians refuse to toe the party line.
Politicians have no morals, none of them.It’s all a bit like Robin Cook, happy to support the arms trade one minute, happy to resign on a matter of principle when the public wind changes direction.
I wasn’t sure what to think of the whole thing when I heard it yesterday. Then I thought it was very bad timing and a sign of a faction in the higher echelons of the Tory party. But then the more I thought about it, especially having heard Davies’ statement as well as the one Cameron made, I started to realise that this could well be the greatest piece of political posturing since John Major challenged his critics to and beat them in a leadership competition in the 90′s.
With the Lib Dems not fielding a candidate it will give the whole country a good chance to look at the issues and address them openly. Any attempt by Labour to move the discussion into other areas will be met with derision from all quarters. Should Davies return with a higher majority, then that will be the clearest sign yet that Brown is in his death throes as PM.
That would then give Davies the mandate he needs to be Home Secretary and a possible chance at being leader again in the future. Of course should it not work, then he’ll have hoisted himself on his petard quite spectacularly.
Welcome to the Dark Side… We have a chair waiting for you!