Lib Dems pile on control order pressure
Government divisions over the future of control orders are being flagged up by the Liberal Democrats’ “early warning system”, politics.co.uk has learned, as the coalition’s junior partner refuses to compromise with the Conservatives.
Tom Brake, co-chair of the Lib Dems’ parliamentary policy committee covering home affairs, cited control orders as his main example of the issues dominating his talks with the home secretary.
The issue caught public attention yesterday after energy secretary Chris Huhne refused to abandon his opposition to a policy he had once called “Kafkaesque”.
“Let us see what happens in terms of the review, but I very firmly believe that the values we have in this country of a fair trial – you should know what you are accused of, you shouldn’t be locked up or put under house arrest,” he told the BBC yesterday.
“It is not the sort of thing that we have traditionally done in this country and I want to get to a situation where we do not have to do that.”
Control orders, which place severe restrictions on the movements of people deemed terror suspects, were introduced by the Labour government.
They are currently being reassessed by the Office for Security and Counterterrorism. Former director of public prosecutions Ken Macdonald is overseeing the review.
Mr Brake is among those Lib Dems who fear home secretary Theresa May, confronted by the security implications of abandoning the initiative, will abandon her party’s pre-election emphasis on civil liberties.
He told politics.co.uk his policy committee functioned as an “early warning system” against steps taken by the coalition government which “could cause significant problems for a significant number of Liberal Democrat MPs”.
When asked to give an example of the kind of issue he was referring to, Mr Brake said: “I don’t think it’ll come as any surprise that a lot of discussion at the moment is about control orders.
“There have been reports in the press suggesting Home Office officials are finding it difficult to relinquish their [powers] or jettison that as a particular tool they can use… we have a very clear view that they should go.”
Dissent within the coalition does not run strictly on party lines, however. David Davis, the Conservatives’ leading civil liberties champion who quit frontbench politics to fight a by-election on Labour’s counter-terrorism legislation, waded in with his own threats this morning.
“It’s certainly headed for a problem on a major scale,” he told BBC2’s Daily Politiss programme.
“You’ve probably got 25 Lib Dem MPs who will find trouble voting for this, I suspect as many Tory MPs as well, maybe more. Certainly many more who are worried about it.”
“It’s certainly headed for a problem on a major scale, you’ve probably got 25 Lib Dem MPs who will find trouble voting for this, I suspect as many Tory MPs as well, maybe more. Certainly many more who are worried about it.”
Ms May told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show yesterday: “What I am clear about is that we do need to take some steps to rebalance national security and civil liberties, but of course commensurate always with ensuring we can keep this country safe.”
