These bills will seriously affect our civil liberties

✒ I FIND myself torn between despair and incredulity.

99 Tory MPS recently voted against public health requirements for Covid documentation in certain circumstances citing infringements to civil liberties.

This is at the same time that the Government is pushing through several very regressive and repressive bills which will have a massive negative impact on our civil liberties.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill contains a series of measures that seek to clamp down on public protest and which risks the criminalisation of peaceful activity.

The Bill has already been rushed with little time for debate in the House of Commons and on top of this, the Government has added even more regressive clauses that will further restrict our democratic right to protest.

The Elections Bill, the government claims, will make UK elections more transparent but contains clauses that will curtail campaigning, suppress voter turnout, and compromise the focus and independence of the Electoral Commission. Prominent politicians such as Dominic Grieve have spoken out against this bill which he considers ‘will be the nail in the coffin for democracy and MP’S integrity.’

The Nationality and Borders Bill will give the Government sweeping new powers which include the ability to strip naturalised British citizens of citizenship without notice.

The House of Lords has proposed various amendments which have been rejected by the Government.

The Judicial Review and Courts Bill, as it stands, will make this and successive Governments less accountable for their actions, and will make it harder for citizens to defend their rights when the state steps out of line.

All of these bills, along with Dominic Raab’s recent comments about overhauling the Human Rights Act, which could radically reduce our human rights, are a real and serious assault on our civil liberties.

The government is aiming to shut down dissent, stifle democratic scrutiny and to make itself untouchable in the courts, on the streets and at the ballot box.

Where are those 99 rebel MPS and, all of those other Tory MPS, who could quash these bills and truly protect our civil liberties?

If they truly value civil liberties, at least for the rest of us, they really need to speak out and use their votes to oppose, and at the very least, amend these bills.

Sarah Moliver

Cheltenham