ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog

David Davis launches 'Ten Promises To Protect British Freedom'

Yesterday we learnt that David Davis won't face a serious candidate in his civil liberties by-election campaign.  Today he has published his manifesto of 'Ten Promises To Protect British Freedom':

1. Reverse 42 days pre-charge detention – a ‘PR coup for Al-Qaeda’.
2. Scrap ID cards – put the £19 billion savings towards a Border Police Force and other security measures.
3. Immediate reversal of the ban on free speech outside Parliament.
4. Protect the right to trial by jury.
5. Stop neighbourhood spies using powers that should rest with the police and MI5.
6. Use intercept evidence to prosecute terrorists – but restrict bugging by local councils.
7. Replace 1 million innocent citizens on the DNA database with the serious criminals left off.
8. Make CCTV more effective (80% is unusable) – strengthen punishments for privacy abuse.
9. Slash the 266 separate powers the state has to force its way into the home.
10. Launch an independent inquiry into the government’s serial database failures.

Davis won't face a serious candidate

East Riding Council has published the final list of nominated candidates for the Haltemprice & Howden by-election, click here to download a copy.

David Davis will formally launch his campaign tomorrow and publish a personal mini-manifesto "summarising the urgent policy changes he wants to see to halt the Government¹s erosion of historic British rights and liberties". Colonel Tim Collins will also be there to support him.

Half of the 26 candidates are independents of various kinds, including Jill Saward - a sexual abuse campaigner who believes CCTV and DNA databases are needed - and David Icke - campaigning on his conspiracy theories about a global elite.

The other candidates represent the following behemoths of British politics:

• Church of the Militant Elvis Party
• Make Politicians History
• Official Monster Raving Loony Party
• National Front
• Miss Great Britain Party
• Christian Party
• Freedom 4 Choice
• Green Party
• New Party
• English Democrats
• Socialist Equality Party

Half of voters think Labour should field a candidate against Davis

Labour confirmed they won't be standing a candidate against David Davis on Wednesday. The by-election will be on July 10th and the Queen may have to postpone her visit to the areas as a result.

Despite being suspicious of Davis' motives for causing the by-election, 51% to 24% of voters think Labour are wrong not to put up a candidate. Most would have been polled before the announcement but it was widely believed that Labour weren't going to anyway. Even 48% of Labour voters agree. Click here for the full breakdown of the YouGov poll.

According to the DD campaign website (soon-to-be-revamped), Tony Benn has told Harriet Harman that as Labour aren't standing he will be backing the campaign. He drew a parallel with the 1961 by-election in Bristol South East which was triggered by his disqualification from the Commons after he inherited a peerage:

"Though the election court upheld my disqualification, the law was later changed to allow me to take my seat and I hope that if David Davis wins this by-election Parliament will repeal the law which led him to resign."

Meanwhile, Channel 4's Factcheck feature has cast doubt on Davis' claim that there is a CCTV camera for every fourteenth person in the country.

Related link: David Davis writes for the Platform about why he resigned

David Davis' by-election will be on July 10th

1.15pm: David Davis called Labour "gutless" after it formally confirmed that it wouldn't be standing against him.