13/06/2008

Davis Stands By Resignation Decision

Conservative David Davis has stood by his decision to resign over the terror suspect detention row.

It is understood that the Conservative Party has been shocked by the Shadow Home Secretary's decision to quit.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned the resignation as a "stunt" that has become a "farce".

Mr Davis, meanwhile has condemned the "shabby and squalid process" the Prime Minister used to secure Wednesday's vote on 42-day detention.

The Liberal Democrats have said they will not contest the by-election as they agree with Mr Davis on his stance in the debate.

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg said: "The Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed this unnecessary and illiberal proposal which poses a threat so serious to British liberties that it transcends party politics.

"I have therefore decided, after consultation with the Party nationally and locally, that we will not stand a candidate at the forthcoming by-election which will be contested by David Davis solely on this issue."

Mr Clegg added that the Lib Dems will "of course" fight the Haltemprice and Howden seat as "vigorously as ever" at the next General Election.

It has emerged that former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie has said that he is "90%" likely to challenge Mr Davis, if Labour does not stand which will guarantee a competition.

Mr Mackenzie is a supporter of the Government's proposals for the limit of pre-charge detention to be raised from 28 days to 42 days.

Media magnate Rupert Murdock has said that he will launch the candidacy, if Labour does not stand.

Mr Brown has faced harsh questioning over his narrow win in the detention row.

Mr Brown said in response to accusations that a "deal" had been brokered between the government and the nine DUP MP's that "there was no deal" and "no deal with the Ulster unionists generally".

In Prime Ministers Questions on 11 June, Mr Brown said that the extension was "a matter of necessity" in the light of increasing sophistication of terrorist threats.

In an article for The Times newspaper last week Mr Brown said that any extension of the pre-charge limit would be implemented so that it "maximises the protection of individuals against arbitrary treatment".

The proposal for 42 days will now go to the House of Lords.

See: Detention Row Prompts Leading Tory Resignation

(DS)




Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

12 June 2008
Detention Row Prompts Leading Tory Resignation
The terror suspect detention debate has prompted the resignation of a leading Tory. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has quit as an MP as a protest to "the erosion of civil liberties" over the 42-day detention row.
08 July 2008
Lords Debate Splits House
As the Government's controversial 42-day detention Bill is debated in the House of Lords later today, previous support for Gordon Brown's make-or-break Bill in the Commons by Northern Ireland's biggest party, the DUP, is again underling the fractious nature of its relationship with fellow unionists.
06 May 2005
Kennedy hails election success
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy announced that the era of three-party politics had begun in Britain, as the party celebrated a successful election. The Liberal Democrats now hold 62 seats, compared to the 54 seats they won at the last election, and have seen their share of the vote rise from 18.3% to around 23%.
05 October 2005
Davis urges Conservatives to 'walk tall'
David Davis, the frontrunner in the Tory leadership race, has urged the party to "walk tall again," during his speech at the party conference in Blackpool. The Shadow Home Secretary said that he had “set a course,” which he claimed could unite all sections of the party.
09 October 2007
Terror Plots 'Increasing' Warns Met Boss
The number of terrorist plots in the UK is increasing, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has warned. Sir Ian told the Home Affairs Select Committee that the number of people involved and the scale of the plots was "mounting year by year".