There are many cliches in politics but sometimes a cliche is what is needed. Government plans for reforming control orders mean the end of curfews and their replacement with 'overnight residence requirements'. They will also no longer be unlimited, instead they will have a two year duration. So that's all right then. The new rules will be similar to the old control orders in that they continue to ride roughshod over existing legal standards in this country, like the right to trial, the presumption that someone is innocent until proven guilty and, dare I say it in my humble lay position, even habeas corpus (with apologies if that is misspelt).
I realise Nick's in an impossible position on this, so why not just say so. And here's that cliche: if it looks like a repressive throwback to the bad old days of Labour's assault on civil liberties and sounds like a a repressive throwback to the bad old days of Labour's assault on civil liberties, its a repressive throwback to the bad old days of Labour's assault on civil liberties.
Come on Lib Dems, this is a cornerstone of our beliefs being assailed here. Must do better on such a fundamental issue.
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