Author Archives: Jo

10th March 2013 Today after almost twelve years I am resigning my membership of the Liberal Democrat party. I have done so because I cannot reconcile the principles which form the backbone of the Liberal Democrats – fairness, freedom and … Continue reading →

If you haven’t seen it yet, have a look at the front page of today’s Guardian. In advance of the debate on the Justice and Security Bill this afternoon there is a very significant development in one of the cases … Continue reading →

Here is the letter which is printed in today’s Daily Mail. It was originally sent to the Times, but they refused us. The Daily Mail has run a long-standing campaign against the Justice and Security Bill. We may not like … Continue reading →

Many fellow no-to-secret-courts campaigners have emailed their MPs, Liberal Democrat or from other parties, to express opposition to the Justice and Security Bill. We have seen some of the responses. This one came in earlier this week from a Liberal … Continue reading →

Yesterday I received a very nice thank you email from Mike Thornton, the newest Liberal Democrat MP, after his victory in Eastleigh on Thursday. One of Mike’s first jobs as MP is likely to be voting on the Justice and … Continue reading →

Channel 4 news on Friday contained a report by Kevin Toolis about Abdul-Hakim Belhaj. http://www.channel4.com/news/new-evidence-of-uk-complicity-in-libya-torture Belhaj is the Libyan man, now a member of the post-Gadaffi government, who was kidnapped and returned to Libya in 2004 with the complicity of … Continue reading →

This week the Open Society Foundation published its report: Globalizing Torture – CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition. http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/globalizing-torture-cia-secret-detention-and-extraordinary-rendition As well as setting out the CIA’s human rights abuses, the report details the 54 countries who assisted and participated in … Continue reading →

Posted below are some of the letters Liberal Democrat members have sent to their MP / Nick Clegg over the past days asking for them to oppose Part II of the Justice and Security Bill. We will add more as … Continue reading →

Dear Nick, Thank you for your letter today about childcare. I welcome your work in this vital area. I have noted from your letter your concern for new policy areas regarding civil liberties. You may recall I wrote to you … Continue reading →

This morning we submitted the motion “No Secret Courts: the Liberal Democrat membership response to the Justice and Security Bill” to the party in good time for the 1pm deadline. The full text of the motion is set out below. … Continue reading →