Poorly
A blogging break has occurred since the excitement of the long night of the Terrorism Bill because I have been a) feeling grotty since then and b) trying to catch up on a horrible backlog of work.
Michael Williams asks if the glamour of nights like that long one make me wistful about leaving Parliament. Not quite.
There is definitely an attraction for MPs in doing strange hours. It is part of the mystique of the club of which they are members. Obscure language and practices help define the exclusivity of the tribe.
But as a way of making good law it really does not stand up. The Government could and should have brought forward a new Terrorism Bill several months ago when they knew they had a problem with Belmarsh. This could have been debated calmly in good time.
So, I find myself revolting at the idea of lawmaking by stand-offs in the middle of the night. This should not be necessary in a well-run legislature. It is a sign of just how weak our Parliament is that this is all it can do to resist an over-mighty executive.
And, yes it can be fun if you are the “clubbable” sort, but I am afraid that if I want to spend an evening drinking till late there are other places I would do it and other people whose company I would seek.
Just glad that I have the opportunity to thank those who stood against this bill and did so throughout the night. I was great to see the amount of debate on the issue and this issue had made me realise exactly why we have the house of lords in place. Also us voters like to see MPs doing a little overtime
.
Does Labour not understand the legistlation would enable a future government to form a dictatorship, perhaps New Labour might not do this but in 20-50 years who can say what would happen.
Again, many thanks.
Here in the states, the word terrorism is used against any one who opposes President Bush’s agenda. The word is strictly political. We have abortion clinic bombers who never get labeled “terrorism.” It’s all politics.
After watching an addition to nightline, you folks in the UK are lucky to have a press that goes after your leaders with aggressiveness. Here in the US our news media is compiled of nothing by wimps.