Peter Oborne: Magna Carta 2007
- an updated version to protect us from an overweening State
27 September 2007
Daily Mail
... In the 13th century, it was the monarchy, and in particular feared
tyrant King John, that was the enemy of freedom and liberty. In the
21st century, the power of the state is the menace. It poses an
ever-growing threat to the liberty of British people, in many cases
seizing on new technology to menace our freedom. Today, the situation is so bad that we are in urgent need of a new Magna Carta
- one that enshrines the freedom of the ordinary British citizen from
state oppression. Here, the Mail's political columnist outlines the ten
basic freedoms this new document should contain...
... All
British citizens are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But this
ancient right is under threat from a government promise to introduce
identity cards, forcing us to carry a document we can present to the
authorities on demand. The ID card threatens to become a massive weapon
in the hands of an intrusive state.
...Habeas Corpus is the single most fundamental freedom of the British
subject, one which distinguishes us from tyrannical countries such as
Burma, China, Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union, where citizens
can be seized at whim by the police and held without trial. ...
However, Tony Blair tried to get rid of it altogether by introducing
legislation which would enable the state to hold suspected terrorists
for 90 days without being required to provide reasons. This was fought
off in the Commons, but Gordon Brown appears to be intent on mounting a
fresh assault.
Alongside
the attack on jury trial, modern British government has sought to move
away from formal justice to an improvised system of executive justice,
thus sidestepping the due process of law which has been the defining
feature of the British system...
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