Concessions are a Sign of Weakness, Now Press the Advantage!

The concessions by Clarke on the government's house arrest laws are a good thing in that the government recognises that it must cleave to judicial authority, but they do not go far enough. The government is still fundamentaly wrong when it comes to these proposed laws.

The act of arbitrary house arrest can never be justified both under European human rights law and English legal traditions. The reasons being that it contravenes the basic right of having a fair trial before one's peers. It also frees the government to detain anyone potentially under any pretext with the government's sole guarantee of 'trust me'. I and it seems from this comments thread a fair few members of the British public are not and are never prepared to trust the government when it comes to basic liberties like these.

So my message to Labour rebels, Conservatives with conscience and Lib Dems is to hold firm and defeat the bill!