A right-wing Tory who is one of the party's leaders has resigned his seat in Parliament to protest the Brown government's successful bid to lengthen the amount of time the police can imprison terror suspects without charges. There is something very encouraging about this: and it's a reminder that conservatives are not all defined by the Bush administration's contempt for individual liberties, habeas corpus, fair trials and the ancient Anglo-American revulsion at torture. Davis will force a by-election in his seat solely on the issue of what he calls the "slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms" in the war on terror. Money quote:
"It cannot go on, it must be stopped," he said. "I will resign from this house, and I intend to force a by-election in Haltemprice and Howden.
"I will fight it, I will argue in this by-election against the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this Government.
"That may mean I have made my last speech to the House, and that would be a cause of great regret to me," he added.
"If they do send me back here, it will be with a single, simple message - that the monstrosity of the law we passed yesterday will not stand."
In America, the land of the free, this president threw an American citizen in jail with no charges for four years and tortured him for good measure. To give a flavor of the British debate, here's a chat between Boris Johnson, a Brown flunky and Dr Who, aka David Tennant. The Dalek is a bonus:
