SURVEILLANCE OF the public and powers to hold DNA samples and curb protests are to be abandoned by the British government as part of the biggest reforms since 1832, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said.
Under the plans agreed with the Conservatives, a referendum will be held on the introduction of an AV (alternative vote) system where MPs must have 50 per cent of the vote in a constituency before they are deemed elected.
“It is outrageous that decent, law-abiding people are regularly treated as if they have something to hide. It has to stop. So there will be no ID card scheme,” he said, in a speech in London.
Plans for second generation biometric passports will be abandoned, while plans to keep internet and e-mail records “when there is just no reason to do so” will be curbed. The use of CCTV cameras, which are more prolific in the UK than anywhere else in the world, will be curbed, though the detail of the legislation has still to be produced.
The UK, said Mr Clegg, had “suffered at the hands of encroaching centralisation and secrecy for decades” which have increased surveillance, quashed dissent and limited freedom. “We will end practices that risk making Britain a place where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question,” he went on.
Dozens of anti-terrorism laws introduced by the Labour government in its 13 years in powers will be subjected to further safeguards to prevent misuse, said Mr Clegg, who has charge of constitutional reform in the new administration.
“There have been too many cases of individuals denied their rights and whole communities being placed under suspicion. This Government will do better by British justice, respecting great British freedoms,” he said.
However, the British government will not abandon the Human Rights Act, which was established in law by Tony Blair in 1998 and has become a serious bone of contention for many Tories since.
On Tuesday, it was used by a judge who decided that two Pakistanis arrested in connection to a bomb plot, but not prosecuted, could not be deported to Pakistan because of the risk of torture.
The two men will now be kept under 24-hour surveillance and subjected to control orders, which will limit their ability to leave their homes, under an order from Home Secretary Theresa May.
The passage of the alternative vote in a referendum, said Mr Clegg, would be “a baby step”, but it would, nevertheless, mark a major advance on the way to proportional voting.
He said he was “relaxed” by the fact that he and Conservative prime minister David Cameron would be on different sides of the campaign – a date for which has not yet been set.
A boundary review will go ahead to ensure that all MPs are elected by roughly similar numbers of voters: a measure that will hurt Labour in its traditional heartlands and benefit Conservatives.
Political party funding will be reformed, though Mr Clegg was very short of detail.
The Liberal Democrats were left uncomfortable last night after they faced questions about whether they would seek to apply for £1.75 million state funding given to opposition parties. The money forms a major share of the party’s £5 million budget, though many of its staff have gone onto the public payroll in recent days as ministers take up new posts.
Mr Clegg insisted that House of Lords reform will happen during the lifetime of the government, even though the Lib Dems and the Conservatives need to name up to 100 new peers to ensure that they have a majority there. Mr Clegg said he wanted to “reform the House of Lords, not stuff it”.