Liberty - Protecting civil liberties, promoting human rights

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill will radically reform UK policing. Part 1 will abolish Police Authorities and replace them with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners serving four year terms. Part 2 of the Bill is concerned with licensing powers and authorities. Part 3 of the Bill concerns protest in Parliament Square.

The TPIM Bill re-establishes a system of executive imposed measures and mirrors the control order system in all of its most offensive elements. Operating outside of the criminal justice system it seeks to erode constitutional safeguards which protect the right to a fair trial and punish the innocent whilst allowing potentially dangerous people to evade prosecution. This tired policy will only perpetuate a regime which is unfair and puts us all at risk.

The Public Bodies Bill confers wide-ranging powers on Ministers to abolish and merge certain public bodies. Allowing a Minister to make an order abolishing or fundamentally restructuring bodies created by established democratic process gives an unacceptably broad power to the executive.