I opened today’s Yorkshire Post to find my letter has been published. I wrote to the paper to defend the actions of David Davis. I am it seems one of few who wrote a letter supporting him, the majority castigate his intentions and his beliefs. I never thought Briton’s would be so quick to give up their fundamental rights of Liberty.
Perhaps a reminder from our cousins across the pond might help.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
In passing the repressive legislation which this Government has in past days and does continually seek to achieve, our nation is being led to a situation where our population is becoming increasingly injured, persecuted and oppressed. This can sustain for only so long, there will come a time where the illegal actions of this Government will come to bear and we will relive the dark days of Civil War. If you believe for a moment I am exaggerating, think to the causes of the greatest conflicts in our history; The English Civil Wars, The American War of Independence, the wars against France under Revolutionary Government and the subsequent wars against Napoleon Bonaparte. The Second World War, the Cold War. All wars against oppression and tyranny.
We should have learnt a lot from the disaster that was Internment in Ireland and we should not be repeating our mistakes. We are and it appears that few are willing to stand up for Liberty. David Davis is and his doing so transcends politics, it is an issue of man’s humanity to man. Why are the British people so willing to throw off the Liberty’s afforded them through war, torture and rebellion just to feel safe. Democracy is not safe, that is the price we pay to Govern ourselves. Would we prefer a Tyrant to provide total safety to a proportion of us, or would we prefer a limited security for all by electing our representatives and affording our citizens the rights which are set out in a 800 year old document?
Dan, I think you’re confusing criticising someone’s actions with criticising someone’s beliefs. I sincerely hope that a majority of people, and certainly those who have thought about it for more than five minutes, agree with David Davis’ opinion. What a lot of people are questioning, myself included, is his method – I simply fail to see what resigning from parliament, while in a senior position in a party that supports his view, and forcing an £80,000 bill on the taxpayer to fund an almost uncontested by-election in a safe tory seat can actually demonstrate?
Surely the Shadow Home Secretary is the best person to attack this bill in the House? Isn’t that part of the mandate that the people of Haltemprice have already given him? One could argue that he is doing them a serious dis-service by removing himself from an effective position to a mere back-bencher.
I think you are right to an extent David. D.D. was in a very good position, that is for sure. However, bear in mind that he was in a position where he knew that the opposition was taking the unpopular choice. This, I suspect, would have made him very uncomfortable and his reasoning for taking this action would be that he would not have otherwise had the freedoms to say what he wants to say and on what issues. I am not sure Cameron was as convinced on 42 days as Davis and he would have known that. Perhaps this was the only way D.D. could see of taking this matter to the country.
As for other peoples views on this, I think some are annoyed with him and they are within their rights to be so, I daresay if a person didnt see it from D.D.’s point of view another £80k seems to be going down the spout. However this is part of a wider issue. That is to say, those who seem to ahve a problem with his actions also have a problem with his stance (this is based on a very non-scientific pub debate I was part of last night), also there were plenty of people not happy with his stance full stop. The people of Britain need to be woken up to what is being done to their rights in the name of security and I think that the comments in the YP demonstrate that they do not.