42 days slammed

The Joint Human Rights Parliamentary Select Committee has reported back its findings on the 42 days plans by the Government and gives nothing less than a damning report. It slams the proposed 42 day pre-charge detention saying "we remain firmly of the view that the Government has not made out its case for changing the law to extend the maximum period of precharge detention to 42 days. Our clear recommendation therefore remains the deletion of the relevant provisions from the Bill, as we recommended in our last report."

The report is about as bad as it can get, smashing the Governments proposals to pieces with extremely little for the Government to grab in its defense. Of course the Government will flat out ignore the report as it has done before and bulldose it through Parliament. The report criticises the safeguards pledged by the Government and states clearly that it is in breach of Article 5 of the ECHR (right to liberty). It also criticises the use of Parliament in the process of extending the period of precharge detention, as of course the courts would have to restrict what Parliament would hear.

As Ive said before, this is an appalling piece of legislation which will lead to a number of defeats in the courts straight off the bat. My legal background isnt particularly strong but I know enough about the law to know this Bill would be a nightmare to defend in the courts. I know that Roger Gale will vote against the plans and rightly so. I hope Stephen Ladyman will do the right thing and join him in the No Lobby. I dont expect he will, but I hope he will see through the smoke and mirrors of Jacqui Smith's new safeguards and reject this Bill. After being quoted by Cameron at PMQs yesterday, Stephen Ladyman's list of allies has shrunk somewhat and he should revert to sticking up for the people he serves. Gordon Brown wont save him now.