THE TELEGRAPH: The most radical redistribution of power from the state to the people for 200 years is to be made by the new coalition Government, Nick Clegg is to claim.
The public will be asked what laws they want ripped up, in far-reaching reforms designed to put back “faith in politics”, the Deputy Prime Minister will say.
The reordering of power will sweep away Labour legislation and new criminal offences deemed to have eroded personal freedom.
It will involve the end of the controversial ID cards scheme, the scrapping of universal DNA databases – in which the records of thousands of innocent people have been stored – and restrictions placed on internet records. The use of CCTV cameras will also be reviewed.
Dubbed the “Great Reform Act”, the measures will close down the ContactPoint children’s database. Set up by Labour last year, it includes detailed information on all 11 million youngsters under 18.
In addition, schools will not be able to take a child’s fingerprint without parental permission.
In an attempt to protect freedom of speech, ministers will review libel laws, while limits on peaceful protest will be removed.
Mr Clegg said the Government wanted to establish “a fundamental resettlement of the relationship between state and citizen that puts you in charge”.
In a speech in London he will say: “This Government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state. This Government is going to break up concentrations of power and hand power back to people, because that is how we build a society that is fair.”
He will describe the plans as “the biggest shake-up of our democracy since 1832, when the Great Reform Act redrew the boundaries of British democracy, for the first time extending the franchise beyond the landed classes”. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Tuesday, May 18, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Nick Clegg is promising to make the tax system fairer rather than lower the tax burden as he seeks to imbue the coalition with Liberal Democrat values.
In an interview with The Times, the Deputy Prime Minister said that he expected the Government to ease taxes on middle and lower-income families and to press ahead quickly with a rise in capital gains tax for higher earners.
Asked whether he expected the Government to reduce the tax burden, he said: “No, I am saying we will rebalance the tax system. We’re not making great claims about the overall tax burden.”
His comments are likely to expose faultlines with his Tory partners, for whom lowering the taxes borne by families and businesses is an article of faith. Read on and comment >>> Roland Watson, Political Editor | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Nick Clegg has made little impression on his new office. There are some family photographs on his desk, overlooking Horse Guards Parade and St James’s Park, and a big red ring binder on the large table. But the pictures on the walls are inherited from the previous occupant, Lord Mandelson: Chaucer above the fireplace, a photograph of the Queen posing for Lucien Freud, Hotel Splendide (Mornington Crescent) by Arturo Di Stefano.
It looks like he moved in a few minutes ago. The armchairs and sofa are undisturbed. Yet today, in his first speech as Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Clegg will promise the biggest shake-up of British democracy since 1832. That is only the start.
In his first interview since forging Britain’s first coalition government since the war, Mr Clegg makes clear that while he may be the junior partner in name, there is nothing secondary about his ambition.
The indecision of the electorate, the uncertainty of a hung Parliament and the brinkmanship of the coalition negotiations may yet produce “one of the great reforming governments of modern times”, he said.
Today he will set out how the State will shrink from people’s lives (no ID cards, curbs on personal details stored on government databases); how people will gain a more direct say in government (elected peers, voting reform, recalling misbehaving MPs); and “radical devolution” of power to voluntary groups and those other than the State to provide services. >>> Roland Watson, Political Editor | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
