On the Our Kingdom blog, Tom Griffin opines that the DUP will support Liebour in its attempt to increase the amount of time the British state can detain you without charge from 28 days to 42 days.
This would be a bizarre stance for a Northern Irish party to take, particularly when internment was such an unpopular policy there during the Troubles. Supporting even a watered down version of internment is surely political suicide in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately not in England where too many people are prepared to roll over and play dead but in Northern Ireland it was just about the most effective recruiting tool for the IRA.
Internment, whatever the time limit you put on it, is unconstitutional, illiberal and immoral. Co-incidently, those are the three words I’d use to describe No Mandate Brown’s Prime Ministership.
Technorati Tags: Police State, DUP, Liebour, Internment
Sigh – when will the loyalists realise the game is up?
Did you also call the first period of office of Prime Minister John Major unconstitutional?
See the thing is the DUP are a loyalist party – loyal to the British state. Internment was a policy carried out overwhelmingly against Irish nationalists rather than British nationalists – so, it would be more surprising if Sinn Fein were backing Brown’s 28 days (SF don’t take their seats at Westminster, but you take the point.)
The reason for this stance by the DUP is to delay the transfer of justice and policing powers – further devolution – to Northern Ireland knowing that such a measure will speed-up rather than stall the reunification of Ireland. Brown will be glad to delay, of course, because such powers will be requested by the Scottish and Welsh governments.
The Scottish government already have the power don’t they?
I’m not sure, I dont think so but……
…this is not a ‘devolved’ matter because we have our own legal system already, it was sort of in our power anyway. This is a nasty can of worms, that we are smart enough to leave at Westminster, when it explodes the only jocks going to get covered in the worm shit are ones in england, if that makes sense.
No, this is ‘national’ policy, so it is still at westminster but in the arcane Jock Legalities department.
Police forces in Scotland come under the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly in Wales and Northern Ireland has its own judiciary.
yes, our police forces are under the control of our parliment, previuosly the grand committe but i think this is one of the powers still retained by westminster.
I also think that scotland has no anti terrorist stuff\police\courts\whatever.
Remember the guys who tried to blow up galsgow airport? They were transferred to england for some reason, I asume because there were not the appropriate facilities up here.
Not the guys who did it but their accompliaces
The Metropolitan police handles the terrorism stuff.
So…..
Terrorism and Internment are still Westminster?
I think there are a few things that still are.
Pensions, dole, war, nuclear weapons