King Vote Shameful

9.16.29am GMT Thu 24th Feb 2005

The vote of Rugby and Kenilworth's MP, Andy King, last night to support detaining Britons without trial was "shameful", according to the constituency's Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman, Richard Allanach.

"If a British citizen is to be put under house arrest then this should be the decision of a judge and not the decision of a politician" said Mr Allanach.

"Andy King should be ashamed of his position" continued Mr Allanach. "For once both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties are united on this issue and together we make up a majority of voters in his constituency. He has no electoral mandate to vote for detention without trial. Many Labour MPs like Kate Hoey, Glenda Jackson and Robin Cook refused to back the government. Andy King however does what he always does and voted for Tony Blair - right or wrong"

"I do not trust Labour politicians to make the decision as to whether or not someone should have their liberty taken away" said Mr Allanach. "People the government once said were such a danger that they had to be imprisoned are now said to be so risk free that they can walk out of jail."

"The proper place for people suspected of terrorism is a courtroom. The Liberal Democrats would bring in a new law to allow telephone tap information to be used in trials" he concluded.

"On Monday Andy King has a chance to redeem himself and make an appeal to the many moderately minded citizens in Rugby & Kenilworth and oppose detention without trial. If he does I will praise him for that. If not it will be a major issue in the coming general election."