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The Freedom Bill

Untitled Well it's finally arrived. The Great Repeal/Freedom Bill first trailed by Dominic Grieve at a Big Brother Watch event back in February, was announced this morning by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg:

The most impressive passage from the speech is as follows:

Our ambition is to create a society where no law-abiding individual ever feels intimidated by the state, just for going about their day-to-day business.

Where people aren’t cast under suspicion simply because of who they are, or where they’re from.

But that means redoubling our efforts to restore the great British traditions of freedom and fairness.

The culture of snooping and mistrust has become so ingrained that we must tackle it with renewed vigour.

Don’t accept it. If you’re sick of the state prying into your private affairs, tell us.

If you feel harassed when you haven’t done anything wrong, tell us.
If there are ways that we can better protect your dignity, tell us.
And tell us what you want us to do about it too.

So here's our contribution – the top 10 as taken from our election manifesto – each has a link for further explanantion:

1. Requirement for local councils to have a public consultation before installing any CCTV system

2. End the use of the Detailed and Summary Care Records (the NHS Spine)

3. End the roll-out of full-body scanners at UK airports, and allow alternative forms of search for those who choose it

4. End the use of RIPA except for imprisonable offences and oblige councils to tell innocent people that they were under surveillance

5. A significant reduction in the number of people entitled to enter private property and powers which allow council officials to enter the home

6. End the obligation on Internet Service Providers to retain information on subscribers and supply it to government (Repeal of the Digital Economy Bill)

7. Stop the transfer of police powers to private security firms and council wardens

8. Ensuring EU police databases are secure

9. An end to Control Orders

10. Reform the e-Borders Programme 

We are now inputting these into the system. If you want to add your own (and goodness knows this list is not exhaustive), the 'Your Freedom' website is available here: http://yourfreedom.hmg.gov.uk/

By Dylan Sharpe

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Overbearing state, Privacy
  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p0115723fadaa970b Peter Thurgood

    Your list is undoubtedly impressive, but surely you have missed out probably the biggest threat to freedom this country has ever known, i.e. The Smoking Ban?
    It must be amended now. Smokers are NOT second class citizens, they pay more towards the NHS than any other group, and do nothing illegal.
    The smoking ban needs to be amended to allow both smoking and non smoking venues, so that both sides of the argument are catered for.

  • Odeston

    Surely you of all people should recognise this cynical gesture for what it is. Cameron and Clegg will change nothing; they are both fervent europhiles and know that the laws that need changing are decided and controlled by Brussels. England is now a vassal state of these wretched, unelected european criminals and our politicians are willing and participating adherents. Only a referendum on the EU will suffice.

  • Swervon

    Odeston (comment is above) has said it correctly. I am starting to wonder if BigBrotherWatch is actually just a smoke-screen, taking the populations attention away from the truly serious happenings. I’m sure you know what these are Alex Deane – and if you don’t then you should. Our time is running out and there are madmen with unbelievably evil agendas in charge of ruling both our nation and the world.

  • colin

    The smoking ban is not a threat to our freedoms as stated it is a radical rethink of how to protect our future generation from the effects of this terrible habit.I have been a singer for years I have had to endure atmospheres you could cut with a knife my stage clothes used to stink my pa used to reek and my body felt the effects of enduring this cloud week in and week out.We all contribute in varying amounts to the treasury but only smokers contribute to death and illness on such a scale You wouldn’t go and place your lips around a taxi exhaust would you but to non smokers it has the same effects. I used to hate sitting being puffed at in restaurants and pubs. Well I have lost a few gigs and a lot of pubs and clubs have closed but to be honest I am pleased that smoking got banned I feel better , smell better work less and am generally happier that selfish puffers stay at home .Maybe in a generation all smokers will be gone and this will not be raised on an agenda again.

  • http://sbml.wordpress.com SadButMadLad

    @Colin.
    The smoking ban is a bad law. The thought was good but the implementation is bad. Yes, smoking should be minimised especially in places where non-smokers don’t have a choice. But it’s current implementation is totally and utterly over the top.
    Being fined £200 just because a place doesn’t have a no smoking sign on their front door. And being taken to court because a customer decided to smoke on your premises and you weren’t even there to be able to stop them. All signs of a knee jerk reaction law. And such laws are ALWAYS bad and cause more harm than good.
    PS. I’m a non-smoker who hated going to pubs because I would have sore throat the next day but I still think this law is crap.

  • david gammage

    repeal human rights act and equalities act

  • paulckirk

    There are a serious amount of requests to abolish the ECRB on the website especially the soft intelligence at the Chief officers discretion that is ruining innocent peoples lives.

  • Gary Sunbeam

    Remake magistrates’ courts as courts of record, to help remake Habeus Corpus. Insist that criminal barristers do as they are told by their fee-payers, instead of letting them do as they whim; to continue the help. Insist that the court recorders, Cater Walsh, let defendants
    listen to the record of court proceedings; instead of charging for a second transcript. This would nearly restore Habeus Corpus from the present “Habeamus non corpus” = we have no body in law. If we were to insist on a charge sheet before paying any fees then Habeus Corpus would be about where we’d like it, in our hands.

  • Gary Sunbeam

    I meant Time Sheet not charge sheet that I’d like lawyers to submit before they ask for any fees. Imagine, lawyers submitting a Time sheet, and feeing by the minute, not the hour. And, magistrates’ courts as courts of record. They wouldn’t be able to ignore their fee-payers, us the general public. They wind us up because they won’t do
    as we ask, and it’s Legal!. And we get put on a charge for asking, and fined, and the barrister stays smug and rich. Wouldn’t it be nice for this to change for the better?. All the best, and if we can’t be free, we can be well-fed, so chill to my web cookbook foodnow4u.com . OK ! .