Conservative Party Conference Archives - Page 2 of 2

4 Oct: Balancing security, democracy and civil liberties in an age of terrorism

5 Sep 2016 | Events, United Kingdom

Index on Censorship and Demos will hold a panel discussion at Conservative Party Conference to explore the implications of the UK government’s Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill.

Striking the right balance between strengthening national security measures and safeguarding civil liberties is a challenge faced by any attempt to counter terrorism. As the government guards against the spread of extremist ideologies, it will need to ensure new powers for law enforcement do not impinge upon citizens’ civil liberties or have the unintended effect of further alienating those young people vulnerable to radicalisation. This fringe event will explore the legal and democratic implications of the bill, as well as the practicalities surrounding enforcement.

Date & Time
Tuesday 4th October, 1230 – 1400

Speakers
Sarah Newton MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office (invited)
Dominic Grieve MP, Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (invited)
Rachael Jolley, Index on Censorship
Rick Muir, The Police Foundation
Louis Reynolds, Demos
Chair: Kate McCann, The Telegraph (invited)

Venue
Room 107, Jurys Inn, Birmingham (map)

Tickets: Free. No registration required for this fringe event.

Dominic Grieve: Thumbs up for free speech

4 Oct 2010 | Uncategorized

It was good to see Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, championing free speech on the first day of the Conservative party conference yesterday in Birmingham.

First, he spoke alongside Kenneth Clarke, secretary of state for justice, at a Liberty fringe event and when asked how he’d deal with rabble-rousing jihadists, he answered that he wasn’t a fan of hate speech laws. He’d much rather see hatemongers publicly dismissed or challenged rather than pursued through the courts.

He added that he felt that free speech had been eroded and it looks very likely that some of the Labour government’s misguided terrorism legislation (including glorification) will be repealed. The attorney general made another appearance later on in the day at the libel reform campaign fringe event with Index on Censorship, Sense about Science and English PEN in the Castle Fine Art gallery, flanked on each side by Bob Dylan’s perplexing pseudo Van Gogh paintings. Although he managed to upset Simon Singh by referring to the blogosphere as “froth”, his support for the campaign, along with that of John Whittingdale MP, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, went down well with campaigners last night.