Guilty before charge; The 42 day detention limit

And so it has been decided. At least for now that is. With a majority of just 9, Gordon Brown has managed to avoid another humiliating defeat. 315 to 306 voted in favour of the plans to raise the detention without charge limit from 28 days to 42 days.

The surprise in this tale is that the DUP voted for the plans. Their nine votes swung vote in Brown's favour, and there is now talk about how Gordon managed to "persuade" them. He of course denies all claims by the opposition (both Lib Dems and Tories) that they were bribed with cash for Northern Ireland.

I haven't yet talked about the bill itself, and what it does to this country. We have always been a very principled country, and I believe very strongly in 'innocent before proven guilty'. What this bill amounts to is 'guilty until we can decide what crime you have committed'. The 28 day limit is, in my opinion too long, but I will concede that terrorists do pose a new, and very different threat than mere 'normal' criminals, and have such a hard-line attitude themselves that it is necessary to take a rougher stance when dealing with them.

However, if you have enough evidence to detain them in the first place, then why not charge them? If you don't have the evidence then they should not be held.

This bill is a step in the wrong direction, and just another Big Brother infringement on our society and a severe breach of our civil liberties.