Ex-Sun chief to fight Davis in '42 days' by-election

Murdoch running a candidate for election?

No surprise that labour won't field a candidate.... if they couldn't let their own MPs vote freely on the issue in Parliament then they can't afford to let the unwashed masses freely vote on it. I just read Diane Abbots comments and she makes a lot of sense, sorry to hear that Labour MPs were bullied and bargained to support it.

Sorry to hear that tax payer money was spent to get the DUP to support it.

If Rupert Murdoch wants to fund Kelvin MacKenzie, then good, Kelvin can as a symbol for Murdoch if he likes. Even with all of Murdochs press behind him, he would still lose.... and then we'd go after Murdoch's press & Sky TV propaganda outlets. He can't fund politics and run news programs and newspapers and expect to keep control of your media empire.

Political parties can't run media empires in UK, it would be nice to see News International lose its control of media outlets.

pick your battles

My initial reaction, when I heard this story, was "yes!" here's someone standing up for our liberties. However, in practice I can't see what he will acheive - apart from a small amount of temporary publicity.

The bill will still progress through parliament (and hopefully get tossed out by the Lords). One M.P. on one side or another makes little difference, especially now that the first vote is passed.

The best personal result he can get is retain to his seat - even though he is unlikely to get any competition from the major parties. At worst, he will find that the voters in that constituency (and don't forget, it's only them who get to vote. Other people's views don't matter)either don't like his stance, or object to the imposition of an unnecessary election. In that case an experienced politician - even if you disagree with his views, will be replaced by a "nutter" who will have been given this opportunity on a plate.

The big question has got to be: does he own shares in a CCTV manufacturer?

a majority of voters apparently support the 42 day legislation

A small majority (unlike, say ID cards, where most people are against them) expressed a preference for 42 days, when asked a loaded question.

And as was mentioned in the House t'other day - Parliament is for making good laws, not popular ones.

McKenzie must be Stooped at ALL COSTS!

Murdock's side kick McKenzie must be STOPPED AT ALL COSTS! it is bad enough having The Sun and Sky TV News preach to us here in the UK and Fox TV News in the US!

Gordon Brown thinks that David Davis quitting is a stunt and a farce, then a big majority of we Voters feel Gordon as PM is a Joker! - why does Brown not let us have Our Choice and call a General Election!

It is fine McNulty and Blears doing the radio and TV rounds today smirking at David Davis, they are old labour and just want to hang onto their Gravy Train jobs as MP's with the likes of Milliband and Balls! the young ones of labour they are just WIMPS!

Bring on a General Election!!

Legal question

Since Murdoch is neither a UK citizen nor domiciled here for tax purposes, can he contribute to a political campaign?

Sleepwalking

It is true the moron in the street is happy to surrender his freedoms. He never used them much anyway so why get upset over their loss?

"majority of voters apparently support the 42 day legislation"

... said a hack from the Sun. Must be true then.

Kelvin MacKenzie supporting 420 days?

Something tells me he'd quickly change his mind if some enterprising person were to hijack his PC and start sending dubious information.

In a time where the Gvt is successfully instilling fear into the masses is exactly the wrong time when legislation like this should be considered, as the great public "knee jerk" reaction is guaranteed.

Whether or not Davis wins or loses his election, I can only laud him on attempting to wake people up to the fact they're sleepwalking into losing their historical liberties.

Personally, I'm all for informing people that influence policy on something that affects general liberties, such as this, that at some point in the future, when it's most inconvenient to them, they will have this applied to them.

If they are willing to submit to that, then let them play!

OFCOM should be notified

Well searching a little deeper....

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/itc/itc_publications/itc_notes/view_note63.html

"No licence may be held by a local authority, a religious body, POLITICAL body or advertising agency"

I for one would like to see Murdoch and McKenzie fight this one, they would lose more than an election. It would be fun to see Sky behave like Fox does in the US, only to see that used as evidence as to why they should be stripped of their broadcasting license.

scum

this guy is scum... as is rag of a paper - sadly it's great at brainwashing the masses.

Who needs religion anymore, we have reality tv, celebs and racial bigatry.

I can't see Davis losing.

He's going into this as the "I'm standing up against The Man" candidate and no matter how much all the politcal commentators go on about splits in the party and complain about the way he has gone about this, he has still gained a lot of respect and support amongst the public.

If nothing else, he has the novelty value of being a front bench politician taking an unequivocal stance on an issue. That alone will get him more support than an ex-editor of the Sun will manage.

McKenzie on the radio

I heard this 42tard on Today this morning. He really is the exact opposite of David Davis and a paid up member of the 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' party.

@El Reg: please do a little story about the Irish 'No' to the Lisbon treaty, I'd like to type Eurotard.

"majority of voters apparently support the 42 day legislation"

That completely reputable and unbiased hack/spinmeister Alistair Campbell also claimed Davis is "completely on the wrong side of Public Opinion" so it definitely must be true. He's convinced me. Or he would have if he wasn't a lying shyster with obvious NuLab sympathies.

@steogede

"Not because I disagree with ....it is just a waste of everyones time and money."

Form which I deduce (possibly incorrectly)

1) Freedom does apparently have a price

2) you would go against your principles for money

Cowardly anonymous - 'cos its a surveillance society innit?

Vote for the pratt, it really matters.

It's possible, still, that nobody else will stand, and Davis is returned smugly unopposed, able to say Labour are chicken.

It is a stunt, but if an election is held, and people vote for Davis, rather than any other candidate--if people come out and vote--it's going to make Gordon Brown look rather tired.

@ Simon Painter

"the Sun reading dullards of Hull will vote the way the red tops tell them to again"

Perhaps they will, but as Haltemprice And Howden doesn't include Hull within it's boundaries it's unlikely they'll have chance to vote in this by-election. Nice try, but no bananas for you.

@Various

For all those blasting or at least questioning Davis' motives, and claiming that it's meaningless because it's a safe seat, I have a couple of questions for you.

1) if a politician of any political colour has the courage to quite over a matter of principle who the hell do you think you are calling them on it? It doesn't matter if the seat is safe, he's resigned his shadow cabinet post and seat in the House of commons. The very best he can hope for (apart from raising the profile of this issue) is to get back to the same position, every other outcome has him losing something.

2) of course he's fighting a safe seat, he can hardly run for re-election in some other constituency can he? This has to be the stupidest criticism of all. He's the shadow Home Sec., so he is not only in a position to protest this crap legislation, in many ways he's the best person for the job - as shadow Home Sec.Sure he has a safe seat, I don't think that having a marginal seat would have deterred him in any way after the recent gains by Conservatives in the UK political scene. In any case, I actually think he is motivated by his principles and would have resigned his seat no matter how small his majority. Some people actually have principles, it's rare for them to be successful in politics as principles are naggingly incompatible with political power.

3) How is it a meaningless act? Even if Labour didn't contest it, this is still a vote on a specific issue. That is what he made it.If Labour puts up a candidate and gets beat, it's a clear vote for Davis and against the 42 day detention. If Labour doesn't field a candidate they are effectively conceding the by-election and the debate. In neither eventuality is this a meaningless act.

It's obvious that the only strategy the government has is to deride Davis and try to portray him as a crazy man doing a loony thing. It's really kind of disconcerting to see The Sun supporting the Labour government, We've come a long way from the days when the Sun was considered to be as true blue conservative as Maggies G-string.

Yep, now there's an image to conjure with.

Personally I would be shit scared if I were in the UK right now. 42 days of detention without recourse to the course on the mere suspicion of some act? Excellent, so how many people like the vague wording of the laws governing terror offenses such as downloading a proscribed document? Have all the sheeple forgotten how easily a Home Sec. can issue a statutory instrument extending the reach or breadth of a law due to the 'unintended' vagueness of it's terms?

This is a crap law from a crap government and only a crap nation would accept it without a whimper. What kind of nation do you want to live in?

Sound Quality

@Darren B

Umm UKIP voted with Brown.

the man behind headlines like “Gotcha”, “Up Yours Delors” and “Freddie Starr ate my Hamster”

You forgot:

"THE TRUTH"

"Some fans picked pockets of victims"

"Some fans urinated on the brave cops"

"Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life"

Kelvin MacKenzie has never apologised for printing these headlines, and even 18 months ago claimed "The S*n told the truth" about Hillsborough. It's just a shame Davis' constituency is not in Liverpool - he'd be lucky to get 42 votes.

Votes for sale

The entire vote on the 42-day bill exposed British politics as a sham. I remember a few months ago The Register ran a story about someone auctioning their vote on eBay. It was pointed out at the time that this was illegal, yet it didn't stop Gordon Brown from buying all the votes he needed to push this bill through the Commons. I honestly don't see the difference. The vote wasn't won on its own merits, it was bought with promises, concessions and dodgy deals (and tax payer's money, I hasten to add).

I am no longer of the opinion that we need to get Labour out of Government (or rather, I'm still of that opinion but there are more pressing matters), I'm now thinking that we need to reform the entire political system. My vote will be for sale on eBay at the next general election and I invite prosecution so that I can argue my case in a court of law. If it transpires that I'm guilty then so is Gordon Brown.

The former editor of The Sun, the Monster Raving Loony Party and anyone else who stands against Mr Davis in an attempt to turn this by-election debate into a farce are at least 2 days too late.

I trust that the Lords will throw this bill out at the earliest possible time. For saying these guys aren't elected, they have a damn sight more integrity and common sense than our elected officials. I still have faith in this part of our political system.

I imagine that sooner or later this thread will generate a comment along the lines of "the government have already fought this issue in paliament, why should they defend it in a by-election?" The answer to this is: It wasn't fought, it was bought!

How much are one-way tickets to Canada btw?

National Enlightenment

Basically, the Sun's political stratergy is to appeal to people's ignorance, bigotry, fear and working-class inverse snobbery to spread misconceptions, propaganda and lies. The ultimate aim is to further Murdoc's neo-conserviative, religious right agenda and anyone who thinks the Sun is just a bit of 'harmless fun' is an idiot.

Suntard!

@waste of public money 1.2 BILLION

I agree, Brown spent 1.2 BILLION quid buying the DUP's vote. The Labour party should knife Brown in the back before he gets them all voted out. Oh wait, you meant the little bit of money spent to GIVE THE PEOPLE THE VOTE on whether they should lose Habeas Corpus...

You know what I think, Labour had nothing, the best they can do is whine about a few quid spending on the vote. To me it screams WE'RE FRIGHTENED OF THE VOTE. Davis is even paying for his own campaign.

To me the man is a hero for taking a stand, after nobody stood up when Jacqui pre-seized assets before conviction, preventing people affording a lawyer, I would have expected a few complaints.... none.

When she criminalize reading some internet porn, on a crappy research paper that conflicts with others, the sheer afront of her to think so lowly of Brits that she's happily slap them in jail on bad evidence that a tiny minority would (wrongly judge) become rapists. Better to imprison 100000 innocent men than let one women suffer a rape? Fook you Jacqui, did anyone speak up? No? All you labour people sat on the benches like little yes gnomes?

"Haven't you all left the country yet, like you keep threatening to? No? Thought not. Tossers!"

Have so, wanker!

I'm Confused

He (David Davis) presumably voted against the extension to 42 days. He then resigns because? If some of the MPs who voted for the extension had then had the conscience to resign I could understand it.

I've voted neither labour nor conservative (capitalisation intended) in any general election since I came of age - both parties have proved that they are incapable of decent government.

As for the IT angle - I'm printing 'Politicise the geek' t-shirts as I type.

misleading title

title should be: "Ex-The Sun chief" instead of Ex-Sun"

does not refer to same company

@Ferry Boat

You're just a tardtard (one of those tards that must label everyone else an xtard).

Sunthings rong surely?

Kelvin is going to lose in Howden - have you ever BEEN there? Even the cows are blue. I dipute the claim that everyone is behind Gordy on this one anyway. Radio and TV panel shows and phone ins over the last year or so have indicated that the public are NOT behind the prolonged banging up of people Gordy just doesn't really like much. The Sun misjudged their readers in the last election by supporting Zanu Labour, and now is looking to show its readers it cares about them. A bit late now - without the Sun they probably wouldn't have had Gordy, House price drops, Massive VED hikes, the fall of the pound, and the EU constitution.

@Liam and Highlander

Good to see some people have a grasp of what is actually at stake for Davis.

I utterly applaud the guy and will support him in any way i can.

@Aron

I second that motion!