UK has 'suffered wholesale removal of civil liberties'

BRITAIN has suffered a "profoundly disturbing" loss of human rights since Labour came to power almost 12 years ago, it was claimed today.

The Government has used laws designed to clamp down on terrorism, crime and anti-social behaviour to bring about the "wholesale removal" of liberties, a report by the Convention on Modern Liberty said.

Ministers have given the green light to collecting unprecedented levels of personal data, including for children under 16, the report claimed.

It said the public had failed to notice the erosion of their civil rights as laws were slipped through Parliament. "Ministers were able to brush aside protests with assurances that their desire to protect us was equal to their respect for civil liberties," it said. "The right to privacy has been eroded, perhaps permanently, by broad powers to intercept, collect, store and share our private information."

The human rights group warned that the loss of liberties was "as broad as it is deep" and amounted to more than 25 Acts of Parliament and some 50 individual measures.

Among them was the Coroner's and Justice Bill. The report claimed the independence of coroners was under threat with the Executive given powers to suspend inquests, even when they may involve homicide.

It also criticised the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, objecting to the use of control orders, including house arrest and electronic tagging, to confine terror suspects who had not been found guilty in court.