Henry Porter welcomes coalition pledges

Observer journalist Henry Porter who has been a leading campaigner against state power under the Labour government encroaching on personal freedom has welcomed the new coalition's list of pledges on civil liberties (see post below).

He writes: "As I read through the list, I have an exhilarated sense of restoration. It is a relief to see the end of proposals that would have allowed the government to store and draw on the data from phone calls, emails, texts and net connections. This will do more than just save money: it reverses the arrogance and sense of entitlement that the Labour government displayed towards personal privacy and those that claimed it was a key element in any democracy.

"There are other important measures – especially the undertaking to review CCTV regulation, the commitment to extend the Freedom of Information Act so to ensure greater transparency, and to review the libel laws, which have been abused by powerful individuals and corporations to stifle free speech and academic research."

He adds: "This is a promising start that touches on all the important areas and provides great hope for campaigners and activists, so long disdained by the Labour government as being either hysterical or crazed by individualism. We know enough to say that real and important changes have already taken place, and that these could only have occurred under the new coalition."