Would a martyr matter? -Jan 12, 2006

So the MP for Bermondsey has finally announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Lib Dems.

For many people – those who share Simon Hughes’ Christian faith, those of other faiths and those of no religious conviction – his leadership would certainly be a breath of fresh air.

He is a man of conviction and progressive ideas. He is also someone who has been prepared in the past to put his career on the line.

Indeed, if Simon Hughes is successful, his leadership of the party could be the shortest in history.

It is not often a MP risks martyrdom – even rarer that one commits to it. That is nevertheless what he has done with his protests against a government’s bill that would introduce identity cards in the UK in 2008.

Hughes has signed up to a civil disobedience campaign that could involve tens of thousands of participants if the government succeeds with its plans. He has said that if necessary he will go to jail, rather than carry an ID card.

Imprisonment however would mean that the President of the Liberal Democrats would forfeit his place in the House of Commons at a time when the Lib Dems are apparently in the ascendancy, and relishing the thought of the next general election after which they could hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament – or at least one with narrow majority.

He has already been criticised by his leadership opponents as an ‘old lefty’. But no one should doubt his commitment to follow though on his promises - or for that matter his track record on either civil liberties or civil disobedience.

During the passage of the controversial Criminal Justice Bill in 1994, protestors took over a disused courthouse in Brighton. In just a week a curious coalition of travellers, party people, animal rights activists, and peace campaigners who all faced restrictions under the proposed legislation renovated the building. The goal was to put the Government on trial over its infringement of civil liberties, staging their own public hearing in Court Room Number One, with the press invited to make up the jury.

The event took place during the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, just around the corner. And whilst several politicians were invited to the protest, only Simon Hughes turned up. The subsequent ‘guilty’ verdict was unsurprising. But his willingness to be associated what many would see as disreputable elements in society with little in the way of votes to be won was notable.

Although popular amongst Lib Dem grassroots Simon Hughes is a bit of a loner both politically and when it comes to his faith. Indeed, his voice appears to be the sole Christian one right now when it comes to opposing Identity cards.

Whilst some sections of Britain’s faith communities have expressed concern about the possible impact of the introduction of the scheme - particularly its relation to ‘ethnic profiling - the main denominations and parachurch groups have seemed remarkable silent.

But there are a number of things that might yet save the MP from a lonely political death. The first is that the House of Lords might reject the proposals. But as a manifesto pledge the government could in the fullness of time, still invoke the Parliament Act to drive it through the House of Lords, regardless of what the Second Chamber does.

Hughes’ best chance perhaps lies in the hope that if Parliament can hold the bill up for long enough, a leadership change in the Labour party might bring about his reprieve. If the bill has not passed by the time Blair goes and Brown succeeds him, it may be quietly dropped. The rumours are that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is not keen. Not surprising perhaps with an estimated cost of implementation around £20-£30 billion (London School of Economics) - equivalent to 5% of total annual government spending.

It is even conceivable that the ID card bill could contribute to Blair’s own political death rather than that of the Lib Dem MP. The bill has already had a rough passage through the Commons with several backbench rebellions. A symptom of Prime Ministers who hold extended terms in office is that they tend to press on stubbornly with laws that will do them great harm.

There has already been a vivid example of Blair’s self-destructive tendency with his insistence that the police should be allowed to hold terror suspects for 90 days without charge - which resulted in his first major Commons defeat. It is perhaps the same self-destructive tendency that the Conservatives showed over their Criminal Justice Bill, after 15 years in office.

Which brings us back to Brighton, the location of another party conference just a year later. “Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on compulsory ID cards…let that money provide thousands more police officers on the beat in our local communities" the speaker proposed to rapturous applause.

But this time of course it wasn’t Simon Hughes. It was in fact the new leader of the Labour Party, the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP.