Top Conservative frontbencher David Davis shocked Westminster today by announcing he was resigning as an MP to “take a stand” against the Government’s 42-day terror detention plan.
The shadow home secretary said he was forcing a by-election to protest against the “insidious” erosion of civil liberties in Britain.
Mr Davis leaves the Houses of Parliament in London today. Photo: Luke McGregor/Reuters
Mr Davis spearheaded the Conservatives’ failed bid to defeat the Government over extending detention without charge, which caused disquiet among some Tory MPs.
The move was greeted with anger and frustration by the Tory leadership, which was given only a few hours notice and clearly did not sanction it.
Mr Davis admitted David Cameron had warned him that resigning was “very risky”, but insisted his mind had already been made up after a ferocious Government whipping operation secured narrow victory in the key terror vote.
“I was hoping that we would win last night but when I saw the nature of the victory, the shenanigans that went on, the iron entered my soul,” he told the BBC.
“I do not think the Archangel Gabriel could have talked me out of it at that point.”
The 59-year-old insisted he did not believe his actions would damage the Tories, and stressed there was no split with Mr Cameron on the 42-day issue.
But Mr Cameron’s fears that his party’s good progress could be derailed were in danger of being realised tonight as Labour rushed to capitalise on the chaos.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith accused the Conservatives of being in “total disarray”, and said they needed to “come clean” over what had happened.
“Faced with a crucial decision on the safety and protection of the British public, the Conservatives have collapsed into total disarray on what is their first big policy test since they have come under greater scrutiny,” she said.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw branded Mr Davis’s behaviour “odd”, adding that the Tory leader had treated the decision like “a piece of stinking fish”.
In his statement, Mr Davis said that until yesterday he had taken the view that what MPs did in the House of Commons to represent their constituents was a "noble endeavour because for centuries of forebears we defended the freedoms of the British people".
"This Sunday is the anniversary of Magna Carta, a document that guarantees that most fundamental of British freedoms, habeas corpus: the right not to be imprisoned by the state without charge or reason. But yesterday this house decided to allow the state to lock up potentially innocent citizens for up to six weeks without charge."
Mr Davis said the Counter-terrorism Bill, which passed with a slim majority of nine votes, would "in all probability" be rejected by the House of Lords very firmly.
"But because the impetus behind this is essentially political, not security, the government will be tempted to use the Parliament Act to overrule the Lords. It has no democratic mandate to do this since 42 days was not in its manifesto. Its legal basis is uncertain to say the least but, purely for political reasons, this government is going to do that."
He said he would stand in the by-election against "the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms" by the current government.
A Lib Dem spokeswoman confirmed the party would not be fielding a candidate in the resulting Howden and Haltemprice by-election - giving Mr Davis a clear run against a Labour candidate.
Mr Davis is widely seen as one of the shadow cabinet’s most effective operators, and came runner up to David Cameron for the party leadership in 2005.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's controversial 42-day pre-charge detention for terror suspects scraped through the Commons by a margin of 315-306 yesterday.
Agencies