The Wardman Wire

A guest posting kindly contributed by Jon Bright of Our Kingdom on the decision of Lord Falconer to reverse his support for extensive detention without trial.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West of Spithead, self-described humble sailor, remarked in the Lords earlier this month that there is a firm of chauffeurs who now describe a u-turn as an “Admiral West”, following his embarrassing and well reported press mauling. The identity of this satirical firm remains a secret, but they now have another big name colloquialise into an expression for turning around, as Charlie Falconer becomes the latest person to refuse to play Jacqui Smith’s detention time bingo. This, of course, is the same Charlie Falconer who thought locking people up for 90 days without trial to be a rather good idea not so very long ago.

So why has Falconer pulled an Admiral West? Well, terrible cynics would say that he doesn’t like Gordon Brown, and might be about to sue him over being done out of a six-figure pension, and is basically taking a satisfying pot-shot. Or perhaps it was Blair leaning on him all along, and now that he is freed from the shackles of towing the party line, he can say what he really thinks. Or there is Falconer’s personal explanation, of course: apparently he’s changed his mind because “suspects are being charged earlier”. Oh – that’s all right then.

I feel it might be a bit positional (“at all times counseled restraint on detention of suspects” reads well in the mini biography). Civil liberties, at the moment, is striking to the heart of the legacy of the Blair government, and indeed the entire New Labour project. The ship appears to be sinking; the question now is whether people are on board or paddling to safety when it goes down. Polly Toynbee, its sometimes trenchant critique but more often trenchant defender, isn’t ready to jump ship just yet (though she does oppose the extension). It’s very striking that Falconer appears, in some ways, to have beaten her to the lifeboat.

(Matt Wardman: I am keeping my thoughts to myself until tomorrow, when I will be returning the compliment over at Our Kingdom.)

[tags]lord falconer, charlie falconer, tony blair[/tags]