'Mr. Blair, it's not a game'

One of the country's most senior judicial figures has launched a damning attack on Tony Blair's record of human rights. Lord Steyn, one of the country's most senior judges until he retired from the House of Lords last month, accused the Prime Minister of mounting measures to tackle terrorism that will fall foul of human rights laws. (...) "Perhaps Mr Blair should know that when he talks about the rules of the game he should know this is not a game, this is a deathly serious and earnest matter and that what we [the judges] do apply is the law."

Read 'Former law lord attacks PM's record on human rights', By Robert Verkaik on The Independent


For 20 years Lord Steyn has observed the judicial convention of not speaking out on government policy. The only clues to what the law lord thinks about Tony Blair, Labour's political agenda or the "war on terror" are buried in the many judgments he has delivered as a senior judge in the country's highest courts.

But now Lord Steyn has retired as a member of the judicial committee of the House of Lords and has won back his right to freedom of expression. Today he chooses to exercise that right.

Speaking publicly for the first time since he left judicial office last month, Lord Steyn condemns the Government for its assault on human rights, declares himself to be "deeply sceptical" of a national identity card scheme and says he shares the comedian Rowan Atkinson's fears that the new religious hatred legislation will criminalise satire.

If only one or two of Lord Steyn's judicial colleagues share even a fraction of his concerns then the Government can expect a rough ride when these policies are finally tested in the courts.

But it is the Government's anti-terror proposals for which Lord Steyn reserves most scorn. His description of Walter Wolfgang's arrest at the Labour Party conference in Brighton paints a picture of Britain as a police state.

"I regard freedom of expression as the primary right without which one can not have a proper functioning democracy," says Lord Steyn. "So anything that derogates from that must be scrutinised extremely carefully." Then he asks: "What about Walter Wolfgang? Where does that lead us and what about the position of somebody who wants to oppose the Government's Iraq policy and expresses that in vigorous terms. Is he to be at risk of being charged?"

Read "Lord Steyn: 'Judges are not the servants of the Government ... our duty is to the public'" By Robert Verkaik on The Independent