Harriet Harman MP, Leader of the House, was standing in for Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Afterwards John referred to the lessons that need to be learnt from the disastrous ‘internment’ policy in Northern Ireland .
In his question, John said: “The PM has talked a lot about Britishness, but it is certainly un-British to lock someone up for over a month purely on the grounds of suspicion and not evidence. Given that pre-charge detention periods in the vast majority of western democracies do not exceed a week, can the Rt. Hon. Lady now do one thing which the Government’s entire Home Office Front Bench has failed to do so far and explain what is so unique about the British that we need over a month?” In her reply, Harriet Harman claimed that international comparisons are spurious.Afterwards, John said that depriving people of their liberty is a more fundamental infringement of their rights than perhaps any other. He went on to say that the Government has consistently failed to provide any evidence to suggest that the extension to 42 days is actually needed and that in a liberal democracy, freedom should not be denied simply on the basis of suspicion. He stressed that evidence is absolutely essential.
He said: “This policy could even be counter-productive in the fight against terrorism. It is easy to see how longer pre-charge detention could lead to a strong sense of injustice amongst some of the communities which will inevitably bear the brunt of this legislation.
“Although not directly comparable, having served in Northern Ireland during the 1980’s, I saw first hand how the injustice of internment had fuelled support for the extremist factions within the Province. Such a policy made our task even harder and was certainly a factor in the terrorist’s ability to recruit from local communities. We must not make that same mistake in this country. If we do, many innocent people will pay the price.”
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