Amy Selman: Why I will be filling in my Census form

Amy Selman is a former adviser to the Conservative Party Home Affairs Team on civil liberties.

In response to Alex Deane's recent piece - "Why I won't be completing the Census" - I thought readers may be interested to hear a different perspective.

I will be filling in my Census form for various reasons, but most importantly because I see it as part of my duty as a British citizen. This doesn’t mean I don’t have serious misgivings about handing over personal information, or absolute confidence in the Whitehall machine to abide by data protection and handling rules.

In Opposition the Conservatives were extremely concerned about the relationship between the citizen and the state when it came to personal data, and the subsequent problems of data losses and state incompetence. Whilst steps are being taken by the Coalition Government to reverse New Labour’s transformational government agenda, we still need stronger policies to return power to each citizen over his or her data. MPs interested in this area could put down amendments to the Freedom Bill to end the notion of implied consent; allow data freezing; and introduce transparent audit trails.

However, there is a difference between disliking an intrusive state and not interacting with the state at all. We rely on the government to provide our public services and safeguard our security.  So for practical reasons alone, we need to make sure it has the necessary information to do this. Whilst vast amounts of government-collected data may not be essential, Census data is. It is used to allocate local authority funding, and other government grants, which are currently calculated on out-of-date 2001 estimates.

In addition to the financial importance of this data for local communities, both the public and private sector rely on Census findings when making decisions about new projects, business expansion, and regeneration.
As the Government decentralises power and funding, Census data will help ensure this can reflect the contemporary situation in every area.

Is the rise of American-modelled libertarianism in the UK a consequence of an escalating EU?

Amy Selman is a former researcher to David Davis MP and was external relations co-ordinator at the Leadership Insititute in Washington between 2007 and 2008.

Working in Washington DC during the presidential primary campaigns, I was intrigued by the strong libertarian movement in American politics, and by their ability to shape the debate. In comparison, our acceptance of the strangling bureaucracy of the UK – imposed by local government, Whitehall and the Brussels – seemed spineless. Yet since returning, I’ve observed that the consensus in this country also seems to be that the individual can no longer have his voice ignored. The ‘grassroots’ are starting to fight back.

There is more than a grain of truth in the statement that people are increasingly noticing the heavy-handedness of this Government. The newspapers are full of stories of excessive interference – from councils inserting ‘spy cameras’ in their resident’s dustbins to the misuse of human rights legislation. To list the many attacks on our civil liberties – from detention without charge, ID cards and a DNA database containing innocent people - would not add anything new to the debate dominating this week.

The arrest of Damian Green MP has prompted simmering resentment to resurface. It is not only our politicians who are horrified by the way New Labour has run Whitehall, sidelined Parliament, and micro-managed local government. As the mass of coverage in the tabloid, broadsheet, and new media shows, this is a resentment shared by those in Wigan as well as Westminster.