Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

PARADOX

Even if the Treaty is understood by a few, that understanding can only be usefully applied by explaining to the many; the many who have no hope of understanding yet do the voting (when allowed) and the subsequent knuckling-under if the vote is yes. Alice is alive and well and living in Wonderland.

It's a stunt. I bet he would not have resigned his seat on principle (say the Iraq war) when Labour was in the ascendency.
Why should the other two main parties waste money on an election just to massage the ego of Davis? The result is to be a foregone conclusion so why bother.

Nothing brave or courageous about it. It would have been if he was on a marginal seat and when the Tories were unpopular.

By elections of the death of MP's or genuine resignations are in order.

I did not like the 42 day result-I would have been a Labour rebel, but Davis obviously doesn't believe in voting, providing his side wins of course. Hope the Tories pay for the whole process for this stunt.

In the meantime, as I have blogged before, more important issues such as the economy which Davis does not mean to canvass upon, so he said in his statement. A total waste on money on a foregone conclusion.

So Davis has no confidence on the House of Lords. What a poseur!

The answer is both! I applaud David for having the guts to come out and say what he thinks, and going ahead and doing it! Call me cynical, but I've not seen such a moment since "Howe" hit Thatcher with a dead sheep.

Good luck to David Davis - I think it's suicide, I'll not jump over the cliff, but keep it going.

I agree with you totally, Mr Davies and I hope this is not a stunt as my husband is saying. I share all your concerns about the intrusion of government into our lives and the information that it holds about us. I have never voted Conservative, but I would support you if I had a vote in the coming bi-election.

Most of the flak in The Australian Labour Party at the moment is I guess aimed at this guy 'Dr Evil' in New South Wales who
is pushing privatisation of power utilities.



Perhaps that takes the heat off Kevin Rudd who is also a much better linguist than our Gordon Brown ........ Rudd speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese which gives him a real
edge in the politics of Pacific Asia I guess.

Good Heavens - the Tories got one thing right: rejecting this man as leader...

This is a cheap stunt - his place in the Commons is in no jeopardy whatsoever, though why he should wish to continue as a member is not clear given his apparent lack of belief in Parliament - the Other Place has yet to speak.

Incidentally I wonder if he has a Tesco or Nectar card...

Of course it's a stunt, and Mr Davis more or less admitted it. He is using the 'camera time' to expose New Labour's disgraceful attack on this country's traditional freedoms: ID cards, the over-use of CCTV, bin taxes, the removal of jury trial, innocent 'til proven guilty, the extension of so-called 'terrorist' laws, which allow almost anyone the government doesn't like (fuel protestors etc) to be slammed up on suspicion etc.
It's a stunt, but a much-needed one and I applaud him for it.

Imagine for one moment David Davis' resignation is a stunt.

Ok

I still envy his constituency who have the opportunity to express their feelings directly to this authoritarian Labour junta.

It would have been more interesting if the whole of the Conservative party members had resigned en-bloc in protest.

What a steaming twit Davies is IMO. Of course one likes to see any MP lash out at the Establishment. But what muddled thinking? What exactly is he asking his constituents to vote on? If he wins well, where exactly will that leave him when he gets back to Westminster? If he does less than well, he'll crawl back weaker than when he waffled his way out of the door. Either way, he'll be a fringe figure in his party, when they wake up to Cameron's shallowness.
If he was determined to have his crusade, couldn't he have gone on the need for a referendum on the EU? He'd have attracted enormous support across all three parties and in the country, thus putting pressure on both Brown and Cameron. It seems such an ill thought- out gesture, particularly when he'd been so much more effective in recent weeks, than immediately after being passed over for Cameron.

Its great to a see politician like Davis Davis standing up for are civil liberties.

We have more CCTV cameras per head of the population than any other county in the world.

42-day terror detention limit, Is 9/11 paranoia? Just like chipped ID cards

It looks like now we are a police state.

When will it stop?

We cannot trust them with are data.

God help are children, what will it be like for them.

Can anyone work out what this will cost? Surely the money could house a few homeless or buy an ambulance.

I was FURIOUS with my MP when he told me he would be voting FOR the 42 day Detention Without Trial. So I applaud DD for his move, and Nick Clegg for his comment that this issue transcends mere politics.

I cannot understand why the majority of Britons sit back and do NOTHING while HMG continues to covert the UK into one of the most Oppresive Police States in the World !

Surely no one can be SO NAIVE to think that only GENUINE Terrorist Suspects will suffer under this bill ? You can guarantee that ANYBODY who the government doesn't like (people like me for example who COMPLAIN everytime they do something EVIL) will suddenly find themselves Locked Up Without Charge .... because someone whispered the words "Suspicion of Terrorism" ! The REALLY SICK thing about the 42 Day Detention is that nobody has to PROVE anything.

I wouldn't trust this Government to run a Kindergarden Shop that uses Plastic Money and Pretend Goods .... let alone A COUNTRY !

MPs can't of course 'resign'. Davis now has to apply for the Stewardship of the Chiltern
Hundreds .... currently occupied by T. Blair?

If he accedes to this request Chancellor of The Exchequer Alistair Darling is effectively
sacking Blair as Steward and appointing in his place a law and order Tsar who thinks he can keep good order in that bit of Bucks without having the power to lock people up for 42 days without charging them ...... But
if Labour really believes in the measure that
would jeopardise natiopnal security would it not .....so Labour is hoist by its own petard :
logic dictates they refuse to appoint Davis!

Heaven forfend that the Chilterns were in the hands of a law officer who takes the same view on this issues as the DPP, the former Lord Chancellor Lord Goldsmith or
The Lord Advocate up here in Scotland ...

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

But in an already safe Conservative seat DD could resign and stand on absolutely any issue as `a point of principle` and win, particularly during a downturn in the economy. Unless there was a possibility that he was about to deselected by his local party this makes little sense.
The shrewd move for Labour would be to simply not field a candidate, or to put one up but very obviously do absolutely no campaigning.

As for sticking his neck out; why not resigning to seek adoption to fight a safe Labour seat (which he might win of course) for the Conservatives on this issue at the next general election.
Could a longer term perspective be that he’s trying to raise his profile within the party, so he’s seen as Camerons natural successor? Even if DC wins the next election it’s clear there are quite a few in his party unhappy with a centrist approach.

DD is also , of course, giving a major hostage of fortune for any future appointment as Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Secretary...

This is a man of principle - he always has been.

This a is a rare display of integrity in a morally bankrupt political culture.

Thank you Mr Davis!

My apathy became determination when you staked your claim in the Conservative party. If you stay with them or choose to forge a new alliance I, for one, will be motivated to follow your lead.

Thanks David, you cured my apathy.

OG

COMPLETE COLLAPSE OF STOUT PARTY.

I have posted on another thread querying why David Davis did not rail against CAUSES of Wesminsterism, rather than one symptom such as 42 days. Now, in the understanding that he helped Major to Maastrict by telling MPs to vote party not principles, the ducks begin to line up. There is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. Oh bum. I have made a fool of myself. It is politics as usual.

The hypocrisy of the Tories on this issue is pretty sickening. In tonight's programme Michael Gove insulted the DUP describing their support as somehow tainted. Yet the Tories were trying to persuade the DUP to vote with THEM, as they usually do .. I'm disappointed Dimbleby did not put that point to him.

The Davis non-election is a meaningless stunt. No courage or principle is involved. He made sure he had stitched up a no contest deal with his only realistic rivals - the LibDems before commiting himself!

I am opposed to the 42 day bill but I can spot pathetic posturing when I see it. Davis's Party have still not given a clear commitment to repeal if elected.

Tom, Scotland

There's an easy way for Gordon Brown to avoid a real humiliation.... just refuse to field a candidate in this election and therefore Rob it off any more publicity. With the Lib-Dems not running either it'll be Davis v a handful of independents who'll lose their deposit.

Whether you back 42 days or not only an idiot would believe that this vote will be decided on a single issue and not Browns overall (lack of) popularity.

Grumtatt wrote:

" You can guarantee that ANYBODY who the government doesn't like (people like me for example who COMPLAIN everytime they do something EVIL) will suddenly find themselves Locked Up Without Charge"

If that were true you'd be a fool to post that comment. if you'd done it in a proper police state you'd be in the Lubyanka already.

" The REALLY SICK thing about the 42 Day Detention is that nobody has to PROVE anything. "

And thats not true either. You need some evidence for the initial arrest warrant and then more evidence every time the police go to the judge to apply to extend the detention time. They don't have to prove a case beyond all reasonable doubt but they don't need to do that to charge you either. Once charged you can have over a year on remand before trial quite legally.

The British media and, indeed, some of the bloggers on this site, are wrong to suggest that David Davies has been 'caught out' by the Labour Party's decision not to contest the by-election. I think the opposite will prove to be the case.

The most likely inference to be drawn from a Labour no show at the polls is that the Party bosses do not believe that they will be able to persuade the voters of the merits of their 'security policies'. In other words, they won't fight because they know that their candidate, and thus this Labour Government, will be seen to have been soundly thrashed.

But there is something else. If David Davies does win, no matter whether Labour oppose him or not, the message will go out that a stand on political principle is not a recipe for failure, as the media luvvies would have it, but a means of success. And, God knows, such a message is desperately needed in this benighted land of ours today.

Undermouse:

"The most likely inference to be drawn from a Labour no show at the polls is that the Party bosses do not believe that they will be able to persuade the voters of the merits of their 'security policies'. In other words, they won't fight because they know that their candidate, and thus this Labour Government, will be seen to have been soundly thrashed."

No. It merely shows that the labour party aren't stupid enough to think they can win a 2 horse race in one of the safest Tory seats in the country. Does anyone really think this election would only be decided on a single issue that the majority of the public don't really care about ? Morgages, rising food prices, rising petrol prices and falling house values are what they'll vote on, not terrorism.

SINGLE ISSUE CANDIDATE

The 42 day incident was courtesy of party politics under a Westminster ethos. Loss of civil liberties is a SYMPTOM of our governance, as currently configured. The answer to the ultimate question of Life, UK governance and Everything, is not 42, so why has Davis not sworn to tackle the underlying Vogonity of Westminster?

Party politics, played out in the Westminster games-room, is more self-serving than other-serving.
Read the code of MP conduct and weep.
Check the vote-equivalence of each party's seats and wonder.
Recognise that you can never know whose words are coming from a politician's mouth and give up.
Watch the few remaining faithful voting for a rosette at election time; voting in spite of the pathetic rosette-stand beneath, and despair.
Watch Mr Speaker carefully guarding arcane ritual while modern hypocrisy flourishes under his nose, and feel homicidal.
Then blog 'angels on a pin'.

'STUNT BECOMES FARCE' (Brown)

Has Brown now stooped to rhyming slang and, in so doing, shot himself in the 'stealth-tax loot'?
So what's 'Moral Compass' when transposed? No prizes.

1/2 half a temper-tantrum and 1/2 sign of principle in politics.....

If the sheep who follow the government's policy of erroding the civil liberties of the innocent had real passion to defend our democracy they would either follow Davis or better still shout very loudly for legislation to protect the state against dissent. No one in government dare's to suggest Europe adopt zero tolerance in regard to the activities of foreign incommers, you know, those who do not share a cultural or religious consensus with us and are able to carry on in their vaccume of hate. Why do we allow radicals to enter or remain once their activities becomes a threat to national security. At the tax payers expence.
As soon as there is any suspicion of a link to extreemist behaviour or terrorism they should be required to leave, surley the entitlement to remain {in Britain} must be valued. Is it an EU directive, or human rights groups with demands forcing the rest of us to live in a police state or surveillance capital. We can't offend, revoke citizenship or deport, thanks to human rights law. Why do we not just make it clear that, any act against our country will result in immediate eviction.
I mean, why live here if you hate us so much. We may just see who value's the freedom to live here and who will risk being sent to live in a less tolerant place.