Put your questions to David Davis

Dave Bartlett

Who do we make donation cheques payable to?

Simon Chapman

The Conservative Party had won the argument and the moral victory. There are still battles to be fought in Parliament. As Shadow Home Secretary, in the current polls, you had the opportunity in two years time to reverse not only 42 days but the whole erosion of liberty that you have championed. Why, then, did you decide that your resignation was a more effective strategy for your cause and to achieve your objective of civil liberty reform, than the alternative option open to you: staying in your job, leading the parliamentary battle, and then rolling back the legislation as a great reforming Home Secretary?

Kevyn Bodman

Those of us opposed to 42 day detention without charge are sometimes accused of defending the right of terrorists to blow us up and of not being willing to keep ordinary people safe.
That's a point that needs to countered.
How do you counter it?

Tina

WHY OH WHY?

John Leonard

Absolutely same question How can we donate to the cause.

Tony

How much has Brown paid you?

Stephen Edwards

..or online donations?

Ian C

What is the upside to the action you have taken? How could that not have been achieved by continuing as Shadow Home Secretary and ultimately Home secretary?

Dave

What is the wisdom of reducing this issue to the CONSERVATIVE PARTY V MURODCH PRESS? Bearing in mind the postion that will put the tory party in, in the eyes of the public.

Jessica

Is this some kind of smokescreen? Is your real motive to undermine David Cameron and then in time mount a leadership bid?

David T

(1) Why do you believe that detention without charge for 28 days does not offend against “fundamental British freedoms”?

(2) You spoke out against “so-called hate laws that stifle legitimate debate”. Does that mean that you would like to see the laws against incitement to racial hatred repealed?

(3) If I were a Tory who thought you were an excellent constituency MP, but who nevertheless supported the 42 day proposal, who should I vote for in the coming election? In particular, how can I make it clear that my vote does not express opposition to 42 days?

chris

Why, very simply, was this not better co-ordinated with other senior Tories?

Hugh

If this proves to be the start of a Labour comeback enabling them to win the next election, will you accept you are responsible for putting civil liberties at even greater risk?

Danielle

In the two and a half years since David Cameron became leader the party has had some of the highest poll ratings ever, has won an historic by election, got the public listening to us again, challenged Labour seriously for the first time in 15 years (since Blair), unseated Livingstone, had been showing the iron discipline a party needs to gain power and were on course to win the next election. Do you think if you had won the leadership you could have achieved anything like this? Is it the realisation that the answer to that question is a resounding NO that you have put this all in jeopardy?

Harry

How do you square your party's opposition to 42 days detention, and their support for the EU arrest warrant? Are the two not contradictory? Would a Conservative Government repeal/opt-out of the EU arrest warrant?

Timothy

Why tell Nick Clegg your plans before David Cameron?

Richard Y

What are the specific criteria you will measure yourself against to know if this high risk strategy was successful?
How would you convince us that these gains are worth more than the
obvious short term costs to you, Parliament, the average voter and the Tory party?

Mike Clark

Do you hope, as I do, that a real civil liberties campaigner will stand in this election and confront you on your disgusting support for hanging? We don’t want hanging to come back in this country. Innocent people are convicted of crimes all the time - you can be charged and still be innocent. In the US plenty of innocent people have been executed in the past. We must stand against this illiberal measure that threatens our way of life.

Ethan Hurlington

Can you give a reason why you think that the MSM has been sceptical of your motives for your decision, while an overwhelming majority of the British public consider what you have done to be extremely honourable? It seems the MSM is determined to paint all politicians as self interested and unprincipled, yet your actions contradict this. Also, do you think this will set a precedent for politicians to make similar stands on issues which they find important?

Tory Supporter

How can you oppose CCTV and DNA Database? In cases such as Rhys Jones and Tom Ap Reece Price (to name just two, there are many more) murders CCTV was crucial. The DNA database has solved some horrific crimes (Sally Ann Bowmen) and put away truly dangerous people and the police NEED them to fight crime effectively, not to mention the fact they are popular with the public.

Del Boy

You plonker, Rodney!

Ted Tedford

Do you find it surprising that any member of the current government, let alone Harriet Harman, has the audacity to lecture anyone about wasting public money?

fleety3000

Was this this decision partially due to the chance that if the Conservatives won the next election you would be moved to party chairman and not be able to influence this issue in a Cameron goverment?
or
Do you really expect your constituents to vote on a single issue and not for party allegiences?

Tom FD

What exactly inspired you to make this particular move? (As opposed to engaging in the debate in some other way.)

P.Stevens

It was obvious that the 42 days was the straw which broke DDs back. Surely it is apparent that there comes a time when enough is enough and some MPs have the guts and conviction to make a stand, even if they do have a huge ego! Regrettably that is all to rare. Sadly the media appear to be concentrating on the effects this will have on the Tory party rather than the issue itself which was detailed by DD in his resignation speech. The spotlight should be on Brown seeking their justification for yet another draconian law reducing our personal freedom under the pretext of security. As a nation we criticised Bush for Guantanamo; is not the 42 day detention the same in principal if not the length?What is next?
28 days was a compromise and in many other spheres of our society compromise is built on compromise leading to an erosion of original principals.

Max

Wouldn't you be in a better position to fight for the cause had you remained as shadow home secretary?

Not quite a Europhile

1) Do you regret, as a Tory whip, helping to ram the Maastricht Treaty through the House?

2) Do you not think that the European Arrest Warrant - which would not have been possible without Maastricht and which allows for people to be deported for offences that are not on the statute book in their home country - is a huge threat to liberty?

3) The EU Data Retention Directive sets the ground rules for spying on British communications. Under this power, every interaction you have on any phone anywhere in the country must be logged, stored and made available to government. What would you do about that?

4) Why resign now if a Tory government would repeal the 42-day limit?

5) Is this your "Westland" moment?

Robbie, Merseyside

If the public back you and your stance on this why are the Lib Dems in third position? They have been seen as the civil liberties party for ages. It is obvious the govenment is right on this and that is why they were returned to power after three general elections.

Craig Strachan

What were you thinking?

Des

What are the advantages to the Tory party of pitting it against The Sun (on the side of the Labour party)?

T A Griffin

My son used to be in Special Forces. He was given an honourable discharge because of the war in Iraq. He spoke at various Stop the War meetings and has now had an injunction placed on him by the MoD, preventing him from speaking in public. Do you agree that there comes a time in a persons life when they have to refuse orders.

Ken Stevens

Will your civil liberties stance also include repatriation of powers from the EU? - Please!!

Peter

How would you have reacted if you had won the leadership of the Conservative Party, and SHS Cameron had acted in this way?

Vicky

What do your constituents feel about your decision to step down as there MP in order to get your view on 42 days across.
Did you consider the people you represent before taking this action.

Full Steam Ahead

Are you confident that you can beat Kelvin and the The Sun that Won It? Has Gordon Brown sent you a Thank You card and some flowers for her indoors?

souwester

To whom should I make out the cheque and where should I post it to?

Jack

What will you do after the by-election to continue the fight against the loss of civil liberties?

Sam

ARE YOU GOING TO MOUNT A LEADERSHIP BID EVENTUALLY?

Murk

This may be a 'stunt', but it's a damned fine one. Your speech outside the commons was superb.

I hope that you won't just fight the by-election on this, but that your colleagues will join you in the general election to come. Libertarianism has a proud history, and has been neglected for so long in the electoral process.

So my question is this: How can we keep Libertarianism at the forefront of public life in the long term?

http://www.murky.org/blg/tag/david-davis/

Ann T

After David Cameron was gracious enough to give you the shadow Home Office brief, when he beat you to the leadership, how can you repay him in this way?

John L.

Surely now you should stand as an Independent. Then it's Kelvin McKenzie versus David Davis and not Kelvin McKenzie versus the Conservative Party. This strategy may, at least, claw back some of the tactical advantage already ceded to Labour and its allies.

Myism

Do you believe that Britain and other western democracies are faced with a real threat from global militant Islamism - both externally and domestically, that requires extraordinary measures to be taken to protect the British people and our way of life?

What measures do you think are required?

Is cross-party political consensus a requirement for these measures?

Alan M.

If you are successful in regaining your seat now and in the next general election will you be fighting to include a revocation of 28 days in the Conservative manifesto? If so, what other extreme actions will you take to ensure that this is included? If not, why do you see 42 days as corrosive of liberty and 28 days not?

Taylor, London

Rumours are rife in Labour circles that they are considering putting up a candidate against you who is an "independant", supporting the 42 days and is a Terrorist attack victim. Would you still be comfortable with your position and more importantly would David Cameron want to visibly support you against such a person?

Mike H

How do you see your resignation (and, presumably, your re-election) benefiting the Conservative party or the protection of liberty in the UK?

Jovan

1) To many of us who agree with your fine principles on this matter, the course of action you have chosen does not appear to stand up to cost-benefit analysis. Why do you believe that the influence you have sacrificed within the Shadow Cabinet and future government will be compensated for by the publicity you have generated.

2) Do you feel that your ability to influence the stance of the Conservative Party on these matters was as great as is widely believed?

3) Do you really believe that you will be able to stimulate a great debate on civil liberties among a public more concerned with their summer holidays, European football and Big Brother (cf. Channel 4, not Orwell)?

Fergus Pickering

I got a tee shirt for asking that fool Clegg a question which he didn't answer. I don't need another tee shirt. No questions. Just my best wishes.

Mariusz Listewnik

What if you don't get back to Parliament? Do you have another job?

If my question sucks, send me the t-shirt anyway.

David Marriott

Is your campaign based narrowly on those rights which you see as being "fundamental British freedoms", or would you also want to see the Charter of Fundamental Rights made legally binding on the UK as it is in 25 of the 26 other EU states?

Old Hack

Would you consider framing your campaign in a charter?

Call it the Charter of Haltemprice and Howden, that stands for the rights and liberties of the individual and sets checks and limits on the powers of the state?

You have been ridiculed and lampooned for this decision, not least by media, but stick with your principles!

Put them down clearly and explain to people just what Labour has been up to. Stealing people's freedom by stealth.

Joseph

Do you want to scrap all the CCTV? If yes how can you justify this after all if it wasn't for CCTV the police would never have identified then caught 21 July bombers so quickly and therefore prevented another terrorist attack akin to 7/7.

London Calling

'There’s nothing more attractive than a man with Cannons, but there’s nothing more beautiful than Liberty'

With your Canons and Liberties beauty, can you lead the Armada and fend off the pirates of the Caribbean in Westminster
with or without Peter Pan?

PS

Sorry my pot is empty, but you can have it anyway, it may fill with gold if you throw in a penny. ;)

Richard F

How do we make individual donations to your campaign making sure it won't go to your weasel party who are too spineless to support you?

Julian Gall

You obviously feel you can do more to stop the erosion of our liberties by fighting this by-election than from your position at the heart of the Opposition. Assuming you are re-elected, how will set about winning over your party to your cause?

floatingvoter

I'm not quite sure I understand why you resigned but I admire you for pointing out the slow seeping degradation of our liberty. I don't understand why people don't think it is a big deal that the DNA of 100000's of innocent people is on police files; that we are watched and snooped on constantly and now 42 days. I am the son of an immigrant but not so far removed from being an outsider that it doesn't occur to me that in the future another type of government might use this apparatus to persecute. And 42 days. I can just hear what the terrorist recruiters will be saying to people about that. Labour are idiots if they think it is right to pre-emptively attack liberty on the basis of "just in case".

Do you think the British public are going to be able to think about this whilst we are all drowning under fuel prices, taxes and expense. I do hope so Mr Davis.

Tom

I have lived overseas for the last five years and am returning to Britain next year. In my time abroad I have noticed a huge decline in the respect that public servants in the UK, from politicians and policemen to the hideously large number of people employed by the state, accord the ordinary man on the street.

42 days is this month's example of this, as are the almost daily reports of the "guilty until proven innocent" attitude of the police. The next example will be Gordon Brown's plans to adopt the Lisbon treaty without the promised referendum.

How will you ensure that you, your colleagues, and the vast numbers of people in public service remember that they work for us, the public?

londonerr

In my fantasy you, David Davis, have been offered a rare one hour televised debate with Gordon Brown – the courageous one – on the issue you have chosen, the erosion of liberty in Britain. During this debate you put one question to him that becomes the 'golden question', which he is unable to answer and you become feted for asking. What question do you ask him?

Michael

Thank you! a honest politician who stands up for what he believes in! Labour are destroying this country bit by bit! they need to be removes from power before we turn into a police state, Im a firm SNP supporter but what you have done has changed my opinion on the tories forever! Get your tories scotland team up to shape and replace that awful woman and I will vote Tories! Your speech really hit home what the Labour government are doing to this country. Gordon Brown is a fool in a suite!

Michael

Thank you! a honest politician who stands up for what he believes in! Labour are destroying this country bit by bit! they need to be removes from power before we turn into a police state, Im a firm SNP supporter but what you have done has changed my opinion on the tories forever! Get your tories scotland team up to shape and replace that awful woman and I will vote Tories! Your speech really hit home what the Labour government are doing to this country. Gordon Brown is a fool in a suite!

Napoleon

So how can you resign on this issue, but still defend the death penalty? Something totally against liberty as Tom Clark rightly said in his article on the guardian this week...

Pete

What safeguards would you put in place to protect our hard won democracy for future generations?

LS

Does it frustrate you that the press and television are sufficiently cynical about the state of British politics that they have insisted on there being some ulterior motive behind your decision?

Chris, Oxford

If parliament passing the law for 42 day detenion is sufficient cause to resign your seat, would you therefore resign from the Conservative Party if they fail to repeal this law, once in office?

George

QUESTION 1:

Assuming you are returned to parliament, will you agree to follow David Cameron's leadership, even if he feels you are too unreliable to be part of his frontbench team, and are asked to sit quietly on the backbenches?

QUESTION 2:
The number of days we detain suspected terrorists for is really ignoring the UK's main threat from home growth islamist extremism. Would it not have been wiser to abstain from the vote in an attempt to highlight how the Government is using it to distract from its cowardice in addressing far more serious issues(Abu Qatada, Hizb ut-Tahrir, tolerance of hard-line teaching in UK mosques etc)?

Peter Shields

It almost seems like some act of Divine providence that your decision and the Irish referendum conincided. The EU and the erosion of civil liberties seem almost intrinsically entwined. How best can we untangle ourselves from this incredibly compex web?

Ian Parker

Do you feel that the debate over 42 days and the loss of our liberties has been glossed over and is the reason for your resignation to allow these serious arguments to be debated fully at long last?

Nick Kaplan

David; may I first say I have deep respect for your honourable stance on this fundamental issue of Liberty. Agreeing with you on most matters I fully believe you are doing this for principled rather than self-interest reasons, as I understand exactly where you are coming from.

What do you consider to be a reasonable limit on detention without charge and by what process should one determine what this limit should be?

Am I a DD?

When I first heard of your announcement I thought it was an audacious ruse to keep pressure on the government. Then I feared, in my heart of hearts, it was a terrible miscalculation. Now, like the Chinese premier on the French Revolution, I think that it is too early to tell whether it was a good idea or not.

You have been an outstanding Shadow Home Secretary. Given that you will be a great loss to the Tory front bench, that you could almost certainly have had the chance in a couple of years time to reverse this legislation, and given that your silence now would have kept the country's withering focus on the incompetence of the government (now - for the moment at least - let out of the spotlight), would it not have been better to have kept your powder dry and had a few days off to calm down?

And what is the best way to donate to the campaign of a man determined to flush out the tawdry attitude of this government to the hard-won liberties for which Britain is famous throughout the world?

I'm confused. Your hero Gladstone appealed to the people when he needed to, but would he not have bided his time in these circumstances? Are Action Man antics wise when the enemy is reeling?

Praguetory

You have done the country a great service. How ill you ensure you don't become too big-headed?

P Morris

Wouldn't it have been more trenchant to have focused your attack on the lack of a referendum on the Lisbon treaty?

Athesius the Facilitator

Why do you never look angry?
Why don't you speak to Kelvin and tell him the facts?
Why don't you stop playing with a straight bat and get stuck in to the opposition? Instead you use technical speak that bamboozles the average voter.
Why do you allow interviewers to keep asking daft questions?
Do what the Labour people do "tell em"!

David Mason

Do you have any plans to roll back the snooping powers and/or restrict the huge number of bodies licenced to snoop under R.I.P.A. ?

Good luck with the campaign.

Pete F

Why didn't you resign over the refusal to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty/Constitution?

Geoffrey Knight Melbourne

David, Did you feel the need to resign because the Conservative Party has become so morally bankrupt that you couldn't even persuade others to support you on an issue that should be at the absolute heart of Conservative principle ?

Sunny

Dear David, first congratulations for standing up, my wife & I are right behind you, just a pity Cameron does not see the light! Below is my letter to him which I hpe you will take on board.
Today the EU has been told in no uncertain terms that we do not want the so called Treaty i.e. constitution in another form and we were saved by the intelligent Irish people.
1. You and your party should have stood up for our rights to a referendum & save our civil liberties.
2. You need to make your policies clearer, as long term conservative I am still unclear what your policies actually are.
3. You should be backing David Davis, in fact what he is doing should be one of your policies, government are using terrorist threat as a means of controlling the population by CCTv, intrusive councils, bin police, airport security queues, thought police, I could go on! The UK is now a Police State getting worse by the day.
4. If you want to win the next election one sure way of doing it is to listen to the electorate and stand up for them.
5. Make your policies clear to include; A. Removal of bin police, B. Stronger laws on the use of CCTv and intrusion of privacy,
C. Tell the expensive and bloated non elected rulers of the EU to get out of the UK and its affairs,
D. Sort out the discrepancies between the Welsh, Scottish and English people uniting them instead of driving them apart because one gets something the other does not and feels they are paying for it. After all the UK is one island and people.
E. Stop the expenses gravy train provided by the EU
That is only a few suggestions for you but I feel sure if you tackled these along with the NHS, Law & Order (starts with the family) immigration and civil liberties, you would walk into no 10 a very proud man.
I do not expect I will receive a reply as you are so busy but I do hope you will take something from these suggestions and get in tune with the people.
Give us something to VOTE for and we WILL VOTE for you and the party.

Water

What further damage do you see the Labour party doing to this country? Also, if (by means of some curious incident) you were to become the PM tomorrow what changes would you make? This said I couldn’t care less for a t-shirt, but thank you anyway.

Alan S

If you are truly concerned about the protection of civil liberties, are you be prepared to give a commitment to work towards ensuring that the UK properly integrates into its legislation provisions that truly guarantee both Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression, in particular by the elimination of our currently much abused libel laws, and by endorsing no imposition of censorship of individual opinion or taste as expressed on the Internet

Anan

Whatever the hell you were thinking you could achieve by this, you will fail. Listen carefully now, for I will only say this once: For once I will agree with Grodon Brown: what you have done is a political farce.

Did you really think that by going on this personal crusade, against no one but the Looney party, that you could increase your exposure to the country and then somehow mount some kind of leadership challenge against Cameron? My god man, are you insane!

However, I will thank you for what you have done. At least you did it now when no one cares, rather than a few days after the Conservatives took power - which would have been a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Cameron. You are a power crazy traitor, thinking of only yourself rather than the party as a whole. That is the difference between Labour and the Conservatives. All politicians want power, but Conservative ones will sacrifice victory of the party for the most trivial of things: making your enemy within the party look bad. You disagree with Cameron on policy, and you hate what he is - a well-bred, well educated man who has had a comfortable life, who is charismatic and well articulated, and most importantly is smart and presentable - even more than what he stands for.

It is clear that it is in your blood to be a troublemaker. If you can't be leader of the Conservatives, then no other conservative can be PM.

Just face it Davis, you will never be leader of the Conservative party, and you will never be Prime Minister. You just aren't fit for purpose.

stephen hoffman

do you think by eroding our civil liberties , the government is in a way giving in to terorrists , because by there very nature , terrorists want to terrorise us into a police state

secondly do you think your decision has shown there is a huge gap between the westminster bubble and ordinary folk

Water

It would be good to see the latter half of Kofis question go forward, though I doubt the man is going to give up (and fair play to him), this said I do like ol' DC.

Andrew

After resigning to fight your seat on home affairs issues, would you take up a job in a Tory shadow cabinet if it wasn't that of shadow home secretary?

mary valton

you should have watched the CCN news on the day of your announcment.You won't see it on the BBC, off the public executions in Iraq, done by aqida If you want to see what we could be up againest in this country if we do not take every precaution.

Joseph Spencer

Do you ever compare yourself to Alan B'Stard, also an MP for Haltemprice.

Dave Bartlett

Do you know what Gordon Brown's 'vision' is?

pat in edinburgh

Im leftwing in political outlook but would definately contribute to your fighting fund on this.

Dont listen to the bubble telling each other your mad. The public will overwhelmingly support you.

Christine Longman

What is your view on the admissibility of phone-tap evidence and other evidence gathered by covert means in court proceedings - its admission as part of court proceedings in some other countries seems to be the reason they don't need to have the debate about longer detention without charge.

Damon

How do you reconcile making yourself a champion of civil liberties whilst opposing late licencing and decriminalisation of soft drugs?

Damon

An effective, Thatcherite Conservative Home Secretary, nicknamed "Basher" standing up for civil liberties - do you think this marks a fundamental realignment of the term "right wing"?

Philippa

Will you be adding to your manifesto the asymmetry between the UK and US on extradiction? How many more innocent (under UK laws) British businessmen are going to get a drumbing (and custodial sentence) in the US because of this inequity?

Hysteria

Question

Your candidacy appears to have struck a chord with many voters across the political spectrum. Are you prepared for a growth in your original scope. Where do you think this movement could be going in, say, five years?

Jasmine

Is it your intention to instigate a national movement to re instate the freedoms that this Labour Government have consistently eroded to the degree that as a country which once stood proudly as a free democracy now cowers under the rod of big brother laws and restrictions.

TGF UKIP

Mr Davis, much of the pressure on our freedoms is coming not just from Government legislation but from the constant bullying, disguised as peer pressure, by the disciples of political correctness and the climate change lobby. Will you be speaking out against the curtailment of our freedoms by such bullying?

James

If you are so concerned with peoples liberties, why do you support the Tories proposals to repeal the Human Rights Act? Doesn't that make you a hypocrite?