May the Government be dammed!

I wonder who was listening to Brian Sedgemore’s speech against detention without trial in time of peace (no, I do not believe that that twit in the Whitehouse’s war against unauthorised terrorism constitutes time of war). And hey, to their credit, it is not just the human rights and civil liberties lobbies, but the capitalist opposition parties too!

From Hansard

“As we move towards a system of justice that found favour with the South African Government at the time of apartheid and which parallels Burmese justice today, if hon. Members will pardon the oxymoron, I am reminded that our fathers fought and died for liberty—my own father literally—believing that these things should not happen here, and we would never allow them to happen here. But now we know better. The unthinkable, the unimaginable, is happening here.”

“It is a foul calumny that we do today. Not since the Act of Settlement 1701 has Parliament usurped the powers of the judiciary and allowed the Executive to lock up people without trial in times of peace. May the Government be damned for it.”

Have a read of the speech in full. May this bunch of control freaks be dammed! Wake up England! Habeas Corpus! Trial by Jury! Magna Carta!

Enjoy your retirement in this green and pleasant police state Brian, well done, you tried at least!