Bob Marshall-Andrews KC is a former barrister who was the Labour MP for Medway from 1997 to 2010. He has strongly held views on the importance of civil liberties and, as a result of his opposition to New Labour policies on civil liberties, The Lawyer magazine described him as “the thorn in Tony Blair’s red rose”.
Recently, Marshall-Andrews contributed a sparkling essay to a new book about liberal values, When We Speak of Freedom: Radical Liberalism in an Age of Crisis.
How law and order and national security became weaponised issues
According to Marshall-Andrews, prior to 1970 law and order and national security issues featured little as topics of discussion and took up little space in party manifestos at election time. Then, in the 1970s, the Conservatives thought they could gain advantage with an electorate that was moving to the right ideologically by portraying Labour as soft on crime and weak on security. Previously, Labour had been supportive of civil liberties but, harried by the right-wing press, felt itself on the back-foot. A bidding war had been started, and Labour shifted to a less liberal position.
Labour’s criminal justice record 1997–2010
In 13 years, New Labour passed more criminal justice legislation than had become law in the whole of the 19th century. Over 500 new offences were created, and a whole series of strictures and regulations were applied to the sentencing process, making it tougher. In the words of Marshall-Andrews:
“New Labour embarked on an extraordinary onslaught of authoritarian legislation challenging some of the most cherished institutions of British society from jury trial to the rights of an individual to maintain silence in the face of accusation by the state”
Moreover, he invites us to consider, “the personality of New Labour itself, embodied in successive home secretaries, and particularly David Blunkett. Blunkett’s withering contempt for liberals and liberty should not be seen as an aberration”. Hence, Yvette Cooper might be seen as in lineal descent from Jack Straw, David Blunkett and Charles Clarke.
When Gordon Brown was prime minister, his government sought to pass yet another terrorism bill that would have increased the maximum period the authorities could detain a suspect without trial from 28 days to 90 days. The bill was savaged in the Lords and withdrawn, but remains evidence of a Labour government willing to drive a coach and horses through cherished civil liberties.
On this issue Marshall-Andrews presumes: “Gordon Brown, by no means the most hard line of New Labour ministers, had been persuaded by party spin doctors that long periods of incarceration without trial would be attractive to an electorate in the coming election.”
What the chief whip said
Marshall-Andrews’s strong commitment to protecting civil liberties would get him into hot water politically. In 2007 he was ‘on the carpet’ to be disciplined by the Labour chief whip, Hilary Armstrong, for voting against the government. Marshall-Andrews attempted to warn Armstrong that government attacks on freedom of speech and civil liberties would lose the Labour Party the next election.
Armstrong disagreed, and, as Marshall-Andrews records, “memorably, she said to me, ‘Bob, people in my constituency do not give a f**k about civil liberties’”.
The events of 9 August protest
Last Saturday week, over 500 people were arrested in Parliament Square in London as they demonstrated in a protest at the proscription of Palestine Action. The latter had been involved in criminal damage as it sought bring about policy change on the part of government – with the aim of provoking something more effective to save lives in Gaza.
The government response to having had the engines of RAF aircraft filled with paint was to amend the Terrorism Act 2000 to make it a serious offence (with a potential six-month prison term) “to wear, carry or display any article” to show support for Palestine Action. “Inviting support for” Palestine Action which includes membership, fundraising, organising meetings or wearing group insignia could now land you in jail for up to 14 years.
The demonstration had been peaceful, with half of those arrested being 60 years or older, and frequently having had a middle-class career in public service. All had been moved by what they perceived as yet a further erosion of their civil liberties – their right to protest peacefully. Their arrest and charge came across as significant judicial overreach.
Reaction from the Liberal Democrats
Lisa Smart MP, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, wrote to Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, as well as separately to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary) expressing deep concern about the potential impact of Labour’s recent amending of the law. Smart wrote:
“At the time, the Liberal Democrats voted against these provisions because we were deeply concerned about their potential impact on free speech and civil liberties. Sadly, those concerns are now being realised. This Labour government has not taken steps to reverse these measures, instead adopting the Conservative playbook rather than standing up for the right to peaceful protest, a fundamental pillar of any liberal democracy.”
Neil Hickman, a retired District Judge and Liberal Democrat member, has pointed out that the knee-jerk proscription of Palestine Action has “tended to turn law-abiding subjects into lawbreakers”, a 1951 quote from Lord Chief Justice, Lord Goddard about ID cards that feels very relevant today.
Hickman adds that he was a Labour Party member for a while “and increasingly wonder[s] why”. In that, he is in good company with Bob Marshall-Andrews (also a former Labour MP) who joined the Liberal Democrats in 2017.
Of course, it is not just the Liberal Democrats who are fighting to defend our civil liberties. There are good people in every party – and no party – who are calling out the government on this issue. (A Guardian columnist, present at the demonstration on 9 August, sought a comment from a woman in a panama hat, sitting on a camping stool. Her response was “I don’t like the Guardian, I read the Telegraph”).
Full disclosure
I am a paid-up Liberal Democrat member and twice in the past have been a parliamentary candidate. In last year’s general election, I voted Labour in order to rid my constituency of a Tory MP (success!). I have written the above not with a view to being smug about my party but to give some context as to just how awful too many key people in the Labour Party are about civil liberties issues. Now, thanks to Marshall-Andrews, we can clearly see they have a track record.
