Adam Smith Institute

This week the House of Lords began debating the increase of the pre-charge detention limit to 42 days.  As the reign of the present government, the UK is increasingly coming to resemble a police state. The rights of British citizens are being eroded and the new counter-terrorism bill is a clear example of this.
 
Terrorism is a threat but the government is taking counter-terrorism to an unwarranted and extreme level.  There are no safeguards to protect innocent people. If this bill is implemented, anyone could be accused of being a suspected terrorist and, consequently, not see daylight for 6 weeks. Such a state of affairs is morally wrong.
 
Adding to these concerns, the government has revealed that the increase is not actually necessary at the moment. However, it has stated that the 42-day detention limit may be "needed" in the future. Yet this is not an adequate reason to implement the bill. It is unacceptable that the government are giving the police the authority to detain any citizen on suspicion of suspected terrorism without any hard evidence and when there is no immediate threat.
 
It is widely assumed in Westminster that the government's main objective with 42-days (how exactly did they arrive at that number?) was to make the Conservatives look "soft on terror". Such an abuse of power is shameful.

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