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Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for England

Upon taking office the judges of England pledge to “do right by all manner of people, after the law and usages of this realm”. Gordon Brown’s suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus seems to me to be so fundamentally subversive to the common law and usages of this realm that if I were a judge I would have no hesitation in ignoring 42-days detention, especially since this draconian legislation is directed against a certain manner of people. But then what do I know of the law.

I may not be a student of jurisprudence, but I do know what I like, and this exposition of what it means to be English, from the aptly named Tom Paine, is one that I wholeheartedly endorse:

our patriotism is not so much to do with “blood and soil.” At its best, it is a matter of values. Those values are rooted in Magna Carta, which set the laws of England above her rulers. They are rooted in habeas corpus, a simple writ which forces our rulers to account for their prisoners and to justify their detention to the courts. These things made Englishmen free long before democracy gave them the right to choose their government. They set limits that even a monarch could not cross. If you don’t take pride in them, you simply don’t understand what it is to be a freeborn Englishman.

On 11th September in the year 1648 the Levellers presented to Parliament their largest petition, signed by one third of all Londoners. 363 years later, to the day, al-Qaeda attacked mainland America and the subsequent “War on Terror” provided New Labour with all the political justification they required to embark on a comprehensive and systematic erosion of England’s hard won civil liberties. Free-born John has been spinning in his English grave ever since.

“Last Sunday was the anniversary of Magna Carta”, David Davis informed the Question Time Audience, “and Habeas Corpus, the fundamental thing that we gave away last week, is actually something that underpins what it is to be British”. David Davis’ view of Britishness is one that Gordon Brown apparently shares:

For there is indeed is a golden thread that runs through British history of the individual standing firm for freedom and liberty against tyranny and the arbitrary use of power. It runs from that long-ago day in Runnymede in 1215 to the Bill of Rights in 1689 to not just one, but four Great Reform Acts in less than 100 years. And the great tradition of British liberty has, first and foremost, been rooted in the protection of the individual against the arbitrary power of first the monarch and then the state.

The ‘golden thread’ of liberty is of course English, not British; as is the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights and Habeas Corpus, a writ that is unknown to Scots law but which dates back to the 1200s in England. For Scots these things form part of their constitutional inheritance, what Tony Blair might patronisingly term a “union dividend”. They are not a spiritual inheritance as they are for the English because they do not form part of what it means to be Scottish. I would love to believe that a spiritual connection to the ideals of England – the idea of England itself – is what led English MPs to vote, by a majority of 19 (which would have been more had it been a free vote), against 42-days detention. But who knows, for it seems that the Englishman representing the English constituency of Haltemprice and Howden is content to ape Gordon Brown and couch the debate in firmly terms of Britishness.

For all the merits of his campaign it is depressing that Davis can’t (or won’t) define his opposition to New Labour’s totalitarianism as a freeborn Englishman, to tap into that rich English tradition and appeal to his constituents’ Englishness. Would it really be too much to ask for an English MP to appeal to England as England in opposition to Brown’s dystopian Britishness, just as Scottish politicians have used Scotland as a bulwark against government control?

Someone needs to speak for England in this civil liberties debate. But who will it be? My past disagreements with the English Democrats have been too frequent to mention, and much of the antagonism – at least on my part – stems from the fact that the very existence of an English nationalist manifesto ties what should be a cross-party case for English self-determination to other policy areas. But in Haltemprice and Howden there is a real opportunity for the EngDems, and uniquely a real need for an English party. Of all of the elections since the English Democrats Party was founded it is this one that presents an unrivaled opportunity to campaign positively for England, to fight for the very heart and soul of England: Our liberty. For the EngDems there is a chance here to slay the ghosts of previous negative campaigns, and present a positive vision of what England should be; a chance to prevent an English election being fought on a “Best for Britain” platform; a chance to make the points of reference English, in defiance of those that claim Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus for Britain.

So much has been made of Brown’s shady backroom dealings with the DUP, but the fact that all New Labour’s Scottish MPs (with the sole honourable exception of Katy Clark) voted with their boy in Number 10 was decisive. This is not the West Lothian Question because Scottish and Irish MPs do have a constitutional right to vote on reserved legislation. But it is The English Question. It is about English sovereignty – national sovereignty and individual sovereignty – and it’s about England’s right to contradict Britain as the other nations of the union so frequently do.

I’ve always described myself as an English nationalist, but not, necessarily, a separatist. Constitutional sovereignty, the right to determine our future, was, I thought, enough. But I must admit that this civil liberties debate has had me seriously considering the case for English independence. To argue that Scots and Irish MPs should not be permitted to corrupt England’s proud tradition of individual freedoms is to argue logically that they should not vote on reserved matters. So perhaps the enticingly named Free England might be better suited than the English Democrats to freeing England from the attentions of a prime minister who has never faced the public vote in England.

Any English nationalist party that does join the fray will benefit from the absence of the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and UKIP. The field is wide open and the platform will be theirs to take. Questions concerning David Davis’ u-turn over his call for an English Parliament will be perfectly valid because the democratic deficit that results from the absence of an English parliament perverts the most important civil liberty that a democratic people hold – the ability to choose and remove the government.

Our Kingdom has a list of Freedoms lost under New Labour. David Davis outlines the issues here.

In all the various revolutions, with their dark and dreary scenes of violence and bloodshed, through which England has passed, the people have clung to their ancient laws with a devotion almost superstitious. — Samuel Tyler

Tags: Britishness, Civil Liberties, David Davis, Freedom, Gordon Brown, Habeas Corpus, Magna Carta

This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm and is filed under the english question. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for England”

The Secret Person Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Do you know how the 42 days works with the separate Scottish legal system? It seems to apply accross the UK, is terror legislation above the national legal systems somehow? (I say terror of course it will be extended to other things).
Toque Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 2:55 am
I have no idea how it works in Scottish courts, as opposed to English and Welsh courts, but yes, it does work across the UK.
John Hutchings Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Great stuff Gareth . I particularly appreciated the quote from Tom Paine . This says it all in one hit . Should be drawn to the attention of the mediua class repeatedly.

The other angle which has not been sufficiently explored is that of the completely different approach of the Scots and of the Scottish PM ,derived from their completely different history and law, who makes it plain he has no inkling of what English law is all about.
This is a key drawback of this imperfect “Union” which has always been a partially federal union anyway in that there are two separete codes of law. Previous Scottish Prime Ministers have taken great care not to tread on the toes of English law . This one is so tunnel visioned he cannot see it .
Toque Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 4:29 am
Cheers John. I should have provided a link to that Samuel Tyler quote. It may be of interest to you http://www.svpvril.com/comcivlaw.html
Terry Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 11:13 am
“Would it really be too much to ask for an English MP to appeal to England as England in opposition to Brown’s dystopian Britishness, just as Scottish politicians have used Scotland as a bulwark against government control?”

I think it would under Cameron. I’m not sure if Davis has done a U-turn or was simply obeying collective ministerial (shadow) responsibility. Cameron is very much trying to sit on the English pressure cooker.

Why? God knows. Maybe it is because they have unionist DNA, or still believe they can win seats in Scotland, or it could simply be because Cameron really does dream of leading a United Kingdom.

Now that Davis has left the shadow cabinet, he may be able to speak more freely.
Little Man in a Toque » English Democrats to stand against David Davis Says:
June 24th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
[...] Comments Terry on Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for EnglandToque on Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for EnglandJohn Hutchings on Not the West Lothian [...]
Anthony Barnett Says:
June 25th, 2008 at 5:38 am
I think this is too narrow a view. What DD has done is take the issue of liberty in the modern sense (database state) as well as traditional to the voters. No leading politician has done this before in modern times in the UK. Its obvious that implicitly this is also an English campaign. But don’t attack him at this moment, think about the energy that will be released if he succeeds, and what will be lost if only 10 per cent turn out to vote while the CEP sits on its hands. The fundamental question is that he has said the principles of how we are governed ought to matter to the voters. This is a profoundly constitutionalising campaign therefore.
PS: what is the source of his interesting speech on an English parliament, date, place etc. many thanks
Toque Says:
June 25th, 2008 at 6:47 am
The source of the interesting speech is a 2001 piece on Conservative Forward. The speech was mysteriously removed from the internet after Davis challenged Cameron for the leadership – but it’s still available here on WebArchive.

As I discussed with you after Marquand described the CEP as barabrous reactionaries, the CEP is a single-issue campaign group. It’s highly unlikely that the organisation will get involved in the civil liberties debate, even if our members most certainly will.

The EDP is better placed than the CEP to tackle this because it is a political party, not a single-issue campaign group.

It’s not a case of “attacking” Davis. It’s a case of ensuring that this debate isn’t monopolised by discussions about Britishness and what it means to be British. The English have no forum to discuss these issues so an English by-election fought on English liberty is the ideal place to push England to the fore.

If not here, where else?

If it was up to me there would be no detention at all, no ID cards, no biometrics, no DNA database, no extraordinary rendition, and; the database state, the restrictions on free speech and right to protest would all be rolled back.

My main criticism of Davis is that he doesn’t go far enough.
Anthony Barnett Says:
June 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Thanks – well put – you’ll have seen Morris doing exactly as you say in the Guardian!
Paul Kingsnorth Says:
June 26th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Looks like the Free England party is another missed opportunity. Among their policies – leave the EU, abolish the NHS and stop all immigration. Great. They look like a bunch of neoliberal John Redwood-ites to me. I’m still dreaming of the day we get an English party that isn’t foamingly right-wing.
Philip Hosking Says:
June 29th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Have to agree with you there Paul. Many try to paint Cornish nationalists as hostile to the English movement but this is far from the case. It’s not English nationalism the problem but rather English nationalists, a large slice of them in any case.
Little Man in a Toque » Brown bought DUP Says:
January 9th, 2009 at 6:17 am
[...] and expression of national interest is denied to England, and it is left to bloggers like me to point out that England voted NO on [...]

Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for England

12 Responses to “Not the West Lothian Question – Freedom for England”

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