David Davis to resign

[BBKing]

Mr Davis's local party fully backed his decision, its chairman Duncan Gilmour said.

"David discussed early in the week what he would do if the result went against us last night.

David is a man of principle and we fully back him," he said.

That suggests there'll be a straight single-issue authority/liberty Labour/Davis fight. He ought to get at least 80% of the vote, which would absolutely shatter Brown's assertion that the country is behind 42 days and probably sink it in the Lords.

Originally Posted by frogstamper

This has to be a publicity stunt...if he is going to stand for re-election is he going to stand as an independent conservative?

I hope the conservatives do not put a candidate up against him, thus ensuring a victory for him. It's not a stunt as he stands a real chance of losing the seat and he seems pretty passionate about this issue and so he should be.

Someone needed to take a stand and he looks like he did

---------- Post added at 14:04 ---------- Previous post was at 13:59 ----------

Looks like the Torys will not field a candidate against him:

Cameron described Davis's move as "courageous" but emphasised that it was a personal one. He wished Davis well in his campaign and said that he and other Conservatives "may well" go up to campaign for him.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2....conservatives

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by Damien

I hope the conservatives do not put a candidate up against him, thus ensuring a victory for him. It's not a stunt as he stands a real chance of losing the seat and he seems pretty passionate about this issue and so he should be.

Someone needed to take a stand and he looks like he did

But his already in the shadow cabinet with every chance of being the next home secretary, surely he stands a better chance of repealing the 42 day motion if he stays where he is. This is what a serving minister does if he feels that strongly, not a member of the opposition, it says to me Davis has had a falling out with Cameron who must have told him that he will not repeal the act if they gain power. If that were the case I would have a lot more respect for him, but apparently Cameron is going to campaign for him!! we certainly are not getting even half the picture here.

I think the whole point of this is to combat this belief the government and some on here have that 42 day detention is supported by the public. Yes if he makes it a single issue matter and gets re-elected with a thumping majority it will make it a lot easier for this to be voted down in the lords and thats what i think this is all about. Rather then there being a split in the tory party i think they are being smart and finding ways to defeat the governent. Maybe labour should have voted for a lazy buffoon for leader couldn't have done any worse then gordon.

Originally Posted by frogstamper

But his already in the shadow cabinet with every chance of being the next home secretary, surely he stands a better chance of repealing the 42 day motion if he stays where he is. This is what a serving minister does if he feels that strongly, not a member of the opposition, it says to me Davis has had a falling out with Cameron who must have told him that he will not repeal the act if they gain power. If that were the case I would have a lot more respect for him, but apparently Cameron is going to campaign for him!! we certainly are not getting even half the picture here.

I think it could be well a chance to gain some sort of mandate to oppose the 42 days law when the Lords kick it back to the house. Certainly would make it harder for it to be forced though via the parliament act.

[punky]

Oddly enough, Simon Hughes has said that Davis will be re-standing as a Convervative, not an Independent.

Originally Posted by punky

Oddly enough, Simon Hughes has said that Davis will be re-standing as a Convervative, not an Independent.

Labour may not stand against him as they are trying to position it as a stunt. Seems like they are cowards to me

[BBKing]

Oddly enough, Simon Hughes has said that Davis will be re-standing as a Convervative, not an Independent.

Whatever the name is, he'll be standing on his own, as standing on a civil liberties platform is not in the Cameron manual. I really hope this explodes the myth the moving ever more towards authoritarian nanny-state rule makes us safer. Poor and frightened, more like.

Of course, once he's elected (and he's already left the Shadow Cabinet, replaced by Dominic Grieve) he'll be an immensely authoritative figure within the Tory party, and one with interesting links to the Lib Dems, who are moving rightwards anyway. I suspect he at least partly wants to diminish the influence of the Tory hard right, who will now, if they want to keep up, have to resign and stand on a platform of bombing Tehran or never withdrawing troops from Iraq or something.

Comment from someone who's met him, who's delighted:

http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.co...of-honour.html

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by RizzyKing

I think the whole point of this is to combat this belief the government and some on here have that 42 day detention is supported by the public. Yes if he makes it a single issue matter and gets re-elected with a thumping majority it will make it a lot easier for this to be voted down in the lords and thats what i think this is all about. Rather then there being a split in the tory party i think they are being smart and finding ways to defeat the governent. Maybe labour should have voted for a lazy buffoon for leader couldn't have done any worse then gordon.

You mean this misconception Rizzy, like it or not these supposedly tough pieces of legislation always go down well with the general public. I'm not denigrating the British public, far from it, but most people don't follow day to day proceedings in the HOC, most have more important things on their minds, so if someone asks "are you in favour of holding terrorist suspects for 42 days before charge" unsurprisingly most will answer yes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ism.uksecurity

[BBKing]

like it or not these supposedly tough pieces of legislation always go down well with the general public.

So we should see an upswing in Labour support soon, then?

I'm not sure they *do* go down well, to be honest. The Conservatives have a hell of a lot more support in the country now than when they helped defeat 90 day detention, after all.

[frogstamper]

Originally Posted by BBKing

So we should see an upswing in Labour support soon, then?

I'm not sure they *do* go down well, to be honest. The Conservatives have a hell of a lot more support in the country now than when they helped defeat 90 day detention, after all.

I'm not saying its right BB it all depends how they couched the question, as regards an up-swing in Labour support I doubt even the promise of free money would do that.

I think more and more people are waking up to the scare tactic that labour has been using for a longtime and thats the big problem so now labour don't just have to scare us they have to convince us to be scared. When any government uses national security concerns to start eroding the civil rights of a population it is not good and never leads to positive things and it will be no different with this lot. I am no bleeding heart but i simply cannot support detaining someone for 42 days as this government wants and i will not support it. I will await some breaking news on another foiled terrorist plot as that always seems to happen when it is helpful to the government.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by BBC News

Labour MP Denis MacShane said he was sure Mr Davis would win the by-election but added "I think this will be seen as a stunt" which showed the Conservatives were "utterly unfit" for government.

A stunt? Looks like an act of principle & honour, to me, from a man who is trying to make a stand against New Labour's authoritarianism & disregard for traditional British liberties.

I've never liked the Tories, & never voted for them.

But if I lived in David Davis' constituency, I'd happily put my X against his name in the byelection.

[Xaccers]

Hmm, does this mean Labour MP Denis MacShane thought Robin Cook's resignation was a "stunt" too then?

With a bit of luck, this bill will show the people how in touch the Lords are, how seriously they take their role, and why it is important not to have an elected upper house which has the potential to be in the pocket of the government. Maybe people will see the real reason NuLabour have been gunning for the Lords.

[frogstamper]

I've no doubt at all David Davies feels very strongly over this, but he is not in power so why resign? his own front bench supposedly feel the same way he does so if he truly wants to make a difference why not stay in the post of shadow home sec, its almost a foregone conclusion he would've ended up home sec, where he would've had the power to change things.

According to the Beeb's chief political correspondent Nick Robinson, certain members of the Tory front bench are not at all pleased with his action, saying he told Nick Clegg the Lib Dem leader of his plans last night, before he told David Cameron this morning, at present we only have the "tip of an iceberg" with this story.