So you think the Lib Dems have lost their way? The Independent reports today that the government will announce plans to reform the daft control orders and that it will cut the time terror suspects can be kept in custody without charge from 28 to 14 days.
Before the bluster starts about woolly minded Liberalism, in the so-called 'Land of the Free' (where guns don't killl people, people kill people - but that's another story...) terror suspects have to be charged within 24 hours - unless, of course, they are hauled off to Cuba to ensure they are beyond the USA's very strict constitution.
The plain fact which demolishes Labour's anti-freedom policies assembled in the wake of the so-called 'war on terror' is that if the police or the security series suspect someone of wrongdoing they must assemble evidence and charge them. This is still a free society, after all and that's the way the law works.
What is often forgotten is that freedom isn't easy: its a daily struggle but reducing freedom doesn't protect it. Comedian Patrick Kielty made the point very well when he contrasted the scare tactics of the previous government with 30 years of living with almost daily violence in Northern Ireland. He dismissed the current fear - not by saying there wasn't a problem but by making it clear that life must go on. Shopping must be done, kids must go to school, meals must be cooked and if something dreadful happens it must be dealt with but life cannot stop and everyone can't be locked up for their own safety. That isn't freedom.
Is it just my fervent prayer that Tony Blair is one day forced to atone for his crimes against us all..?
If you've made it this far, my apologies that this has become a bit of a rant but this announcement is at the heart of what the Lib Dems are for. Lib Dems in government are making a difference and they are working to improve your lives. If you don't believe me, drown your sorrows in April with the extra £200 in tax you will receive over the coming year.
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