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Intrusion into our liberties must end

Posted by Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, at 10:41, Mon 21 February 2011:

Some people take the view that a measure of how effective a public representative and the parliament or assembly in which he or she sits, is the number of laws which they pass. I take a contrary view. The role of Parliament should be to establish a framework of law which gives certainty to decision making, protects the vulnerable, provides basic public services, creates stability for future planning and then allows people to get on with their lives with the minimum of interference.

Unfortunately in our equality obsessed, politically correct and dogma driven political world, government is now the tool for social engineering, interference in the minutia of our lives and forcing the views of vociferous minorities on us all.

This week at Westminster Lynne Featherstone the Liberal Democrats’ Equality Minister, one of the worst kind of interfering lefties driven by politically correct fanaticism, has announced plans to permit homosexuals and lesbian to have civil partnership “marriage ceremonies” carried out in churches. The result will be to open a legal minefield which will inevitably result in ministers who refuse the use of their churches to be used to be prosecuted for discrimination. Most churches believe that the Bible forbids same sex relationships and to have churches used to bless them would amount to their sanctuary being desecrated but this has no impact on the liberal left fascists who believe that their views should be foisted upon everyone and will use the law to do it. It is significant that the Conservatives are going along with this erosion of freedom of belief.

Our own Assembly at Stormont is smitten by the same disease from time to time. Recently a bill requiring all cyclists to wear helmets was introduced and is now being examined by the DoE committee. I am sure the member who introduced it is well meaning but he is wrong and it is a piece of legislation which must be voted down if it ever reaches the floor of the House again. Apart from the fact that everybody from tourist board to the police are opposed to it, and studies show that it will put people off cycling, surely it should be up to individuals what they wear when they go out cycling. At a time when government policy is designed to encourage the population to engage in more exercise in order to counter the worrying trend in obesity which costs the health service millions of pounds, this measure is just plain daft.

Equally daft is the proposal out for consultation at present that would restrict young people who have just passed their test from driving at night or having other young people in the car with them. Such an infringement on the freedom of our youth is unthinkable. Every young person looks forward to the day when they get their driving test and have the freedom to go out without relying on their parents or public transport which in most cases is not available after 6pm. It opens a whole new world to them and I am sure that they will be appalled at any suggestion by some of the fanatics in the road safety lobby that their liberties as teenagers should be taken from them.

As DoE Minister I encountered this brigade. Indeed I had regular bouts with some of my officials who seemed to take the view that it didn’t matter how far we interfered with personal liberties so long as they could show a reduction in accident statistics. I used to joke that maybe we should lock everybody up so they couldn’t get into cars then we could claim success - the worrying thing is that we now have a version of that policy out for consultation!!

There is no doubt that there is a problem of road deaths attributable to the drivers under the age of 25, but the actions already taken by Edwin Poots the DoE Minister, the road safety section of his department the police and a host of others who are involved in road safety have borne fruit with road deaths at the lowest level since records began. There is no justification for the level of interference now being envisaged. Apart from anything else how would it be enforced? A young person going out in their car may be unavoidably delayed, will that get them a fine or points because they break the curfew? Will a young person who works at night be penalised for giving their friends a lift home after work? Will it be okay for a young person to have someone over 25 in the car with them after certain hours but be penalised if their passenger is 24? Who enforces all this or do we put another law on the statute book which is unenforceable and only brings the law into disrepute?

Obviously the proposals are only out for consultation and may never see the light of day but whether it is the insidious erosion of religious freedom by politically correct left wing liberal fascists or the intrusion into our liberties by well meaning road safety campaigners, all who value independence of thought and actions should make their opposition heard.