The Convention Blog

Transcript – Bloggers Summit Q&A

Below is a transcript of the Bloggers Summit Q&A Session
CHAIR: Do we have any questions: we’d better be quick.
Q: Hi, my name’s Imran Khan, I was at the previous session in this room and it was basically talking about the decline of journalism as under threat from libel and the law, and also from finances. [...]

Read →

Transcript: The Conservatives and Civil Liberties Q&A

(in media res) …Cameras inside pubs are taking away one of the few places that a lot of people still feel should be private space. But I think there was a larger issue raised by one of the questioners in the main session which is what are the Conservatives going to do about it if [...]

Read →

Demonstrating respect for rights?

Originally posted on OurKingdom
Matthew Brian: The right to protest is undeniably one of the most essential pillars of a free society. The suppression of dissent often draws the international media spotlight when it comes to the actions of regimes and governments around the world whom we in the West describe as repressive. Britain styles itself as [...]

Read →

Liberal Democrats warn that misuse of ‘RIPA’ makes it a snooper’s charter

The BBC has drawn attention to the results of a Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information request revealing misuse of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), which gives councils surveillance powers.  Although designed to fight serious crime, officials have been using it to spy on suspected dog fouling, littering and other minor offences.  The Liberal Democrats have [...]

Read →

Government to Monitor Social Networking sites

A new Facebook Group has been launched to draw attention to government plans to monitor social networking sites.  The proposal, as highlighted by a Home Office spokesperson, is to update existing plans to store information about every telephone call, email, and internet visit made by anyone in the UK on a central database.  This will include collecting data [...]

Read →

Carnival on Modern Liberty. 8

This weeks Carnival on Modern Liberty is brought to you by Cabalamat at Amused Cynicism.  It contains a list of relevant links to a various pieces engaging with the issues raised at the Convention.  It includes comments on Jack Straw’s blog, David Mery on getting removed from databases, and potential new threats to liberty.
If you want to [...]

Read →

Police session leads to combined action

Laurie Penny (Red Pepper): The police workshop was well-attended, and the small convention room at the Institute of Education was packed with high-profile journalists and campaigners as well as ordinary citizens jostling for standing room. Cilius Victor from the Jean Charles de Menezes Campaign opened with a moving speech explaining the legacy of the shooting of [...]

Read →

Conor Gearty and the “Convention of Cant”

Stephen Taylor: Conor Gearty accuses the Convention on Modern Liberty of inflating concern about civil liberties into a moral panic. His attack is a useful opportunity to dispel some comforting illusions.
First consider his jibe a police state or a “surveillance society” or whatever the latest colourful label is. The conflation is his; no one at the Convention claimed the [...]

Read →

Campaign for “libertes publiques” launches in France

Cross-posted from the Belfast to Brussels blog
The French sister of the Labour Party, the opposition Parti Socialiste, has launched its Spring campaign, featuring public liberty as its theme. Following the recent ‘Convention on Modern Liberty‘, this is further sign that opposition to creeping attacks on liberty is an issue across Europe.
The approach is different and some of [...]

Read →

Press Freedom – Q&A Transcript

Below is a transcript of the Question and Answer part of the ‘Press Freedom’ session
Joanne Cash: And now I’d like to open up to the floor – ok so I’m going to take questions from the gentleman there and followed by the gentleman here in the red shirt and then followed by the gentleman in [...]

Read →