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Coroners Bill threat to liberties
• PRESIDENT Barack Obama summed it up for many of us when he said “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals”.
The Labour government has yet to listen.
The latest way Labour want to restrict our freedom is by its Coroners and Justice Bill.
This doesn’t sound like it would have anything to do with data protection, does it? But hidden away, in clauses 151-154 (Part 8) are the plans for “information sharing orders”.
These orders will allow any government minister to make an order to share any information held by the government with other government departments, private companies or even foreign governments. This means tax details, health notes and benefits records can be shared, if the government gives the nod.
The Liberal Democrats believe that this is a further infringement of our civil liberties and human rights.
Perhaps we should not be surprised. Labour has already done more than any other government to attack our civil liberties: 42 days detention, extraordinary rendition, restriction of jury trial, trials held in private (as you reported last week), ID cards, the National Identity Register.
The mass of information required for the National Identity Register would be up for “sharing” by the government if it saw fit.
On Monday the House of Commons debated the Bill. Despite local people raising their concerns with him, our Labour MP voted for it.
This was his opportunity to stand up for our civil liberties, and he failed. I wrote to him last week asking him to vote against, and have not yet had a reply. I look forward to hearing his reasons for his support for this mistaken, dangerous legislation.
Perhaps he still believes the Labour government when it says: “Trust us, we’re great at looking after your data.” If so, he is in a minority.
JO SHAW
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner
Holborn & St Pancras
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