The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill


by Guest    
11:20 am - September 7th 2012

Tweet       Share on Tumblr

contribution by Donald Campbell

Perhaps the clearest indication yet of the toxic nature of the Justice and Security Bill – and the Government’s awareness of that fact – came with a little-reported anomaly in Tuesdays’ Cabinet reshuffle.

Ken Clarke, despite leaving the Ministry of Justice, is still going to be responsible for taking what is supposedly a justice Bill through the House of Commons.

This may sound like a dry point of interest only to political obsessives, but it vindicates the fears of those who have criticised the Government’s plans to bring in secret courts in ‘national security’ cases.

These plans would enable ministers and officials to cover up complicity in serious crimes such as torture and rendition.

The casual way in which the Justice and Security Bill seems to have been completely removed from the Ministry of Justice makes the suspicion stronger than ever that its real origins were elsewhere – perhaps somewhere within the security services who faced embarrassment over cases such as that of Binyam Mohamed – and that the MoJ, headed by the reassuringly moderate figure of Ken Clarke, was something of a front.

Only three conclusions seem to be possible:

First, the new Justice Secretary is not considered capable of handling the Bill himself. This can surely be dismissed straight away – why replace Ken Clarke with Chris Grayling, if the latter is not thought able to pilot a major piece of MoJ legislation through the Commons?

Second, this was never really a Bill aimed at promoting justice, but rather one aimed at sparing the blushes of the intelligence services and their political masters. As mentioned previously, the apparent ease with which it has been detached from the MoJ makes this more credible than ever.

Third, the Government is alarmed by the negative reception which the Bill has so far received from legal experts, the media and NGOs – summarised by the Special Advocates’ description of the closed courts it plans to roll out as “fundamentally unfair” – and feels the reassuringly liberal reputation of Ken Clarke is essential to smoothing the way.

It is easy to see how a man once referred to as the “sixth Lib Dem in the Cabinet” would be essential in addressing the concerns of coalition partners who might feel considerably more queasy about such a Bill were it being advanced by the likes of Chris Grayling.

The Prime Minister needs to come clean about which of these is his reason for what would otherwise seem to be an inexplicable move. Liberals of all parties have good reason to be very worried about the real motives behind the Secret Courts Bill.

—
Donald Campbell is the Communications Officer at Reprieve.

   Tweet   Share on Tumblr   submit to reddit  


About the author
This is a guest post.
· Other posts by


Story Filed Under: Blog ,Civil liberties


Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


Reader comments


1. Peter Stewert

To go by initial impressions you would think that there are many departments now being led by pig beauticians (lipstick specialists). However, along with Hunt, think this through and you might find that Ken Clarke is not the best choice. Consider that this secret, highly sensitive bill is being fronted by one of the few cabinet members you can depend upon to speak their mind without regard to the politics.

Clarke should have went to health to kill off the NHS; it’d be a nice full-cirle in his ministerial career and at least he would make the death relatively clean (well as clean as possible following lansley’s nail-bomb disguised as a bill).

2. Richard Carey

“the reassuringly liberal reputation of Ken Clarke is essential to smoothing the way. ”

I think you are correct in your analysis.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Jason Brickley

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill http://t.co/CL9hhl4O

  2. leftlinks

    Liberal Conspiracy – The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill http://t.co/dQJqpQup

  3. Heresiarch

    Bizarrely, ex Justice secretary Ken Clarke is still responsible for the Justice (secret courts) bill. http://t.co/ZhOiJ7e8

  4. Heresiarch

    Bizarrely, ex Justice secretary Ken Clarke is still responsible for the Justice (secret courts) bill. http://t.co/ZhOiJ7e8

  5. Paul Trembath

    Bizarrely, ex Justice secretary Ken Clarke is still responsible for the Justice (secret courts) bill. http://t.co/ZhOiJ7e8

  6. Gideons Way

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  7. Ray Deans

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/jXlaH4qq

  8. Paul Trembath

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  9. Iorem_lpsum

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  10. Catherine Brunton

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  11. BBERRYBETH

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  12. Sarah Selzer

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  13. TheLawMap

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill http://t.co/TvWM8rMO

  14. Cryton Chikoko

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/85LQry2u via @libcon

  15. AJ

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/aexNYjL8

  16. Sam McIntosh

    Read: why liberals of all parties should be worried about the real motives behind the #SecretJustice Bill: http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr

  17. True Crime UK

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill. http://t.co/6MqCaGHK …

  18. Jaemie Gallie

    The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful Justice Bill. http://t.co/6MqCaGHK …

  19. CHARLES

    MT @libcon: The curious case of Ken Clarke and the awful #SecretJustice Bill http://t.co/CEN1Zpdr





Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.