4 ms·

Interestingly one of the MPs who brought this to the European courts was David Davis, the cabinet minister who has the title 'Secretary of State for Exiting the

Interestingly one of the MPs who brought this to the European courts was David Davis, the cabinet minister who has the title 'Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'

jeremysmyth 10y ago
He has since withdrawn from the case.
- OJFord 10y ago
  Because he can't be seen to oppose it from cabinet. I don't think his position makes it any more interesting though, this issue has little to do with the EU - other than it being the location of the appropriate court for as long as we remain in the Union.
chippy 10y ago
And the other one, Watson, actually voted FOR the recent Snoopers Charter. More irony.
- doc_holliday 10y ago
  Do we know why this was? That he changed stance?
  - ciaranm 10y ago
    I don't think the cabinet is allowed to vote against the govt.
    - rosbrith 10y ago
      Indeed. Handing out ministerial positions is a good way of quashing dissent in the party.
    - d_theorist 10y ago
      David Davis is the one who's now in the cabinet. Tom Watson is now Labour's deputy leader, and therefore quite decidedly not in the cabinet.
      - ciaranm 10y ago
        Ah, my apologies - I misread the parent comment.
      - chippy 10y ago
        Davis actually didn't vote on the issue.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
_pdp_ 10y ago
A lot of the stuff in the government happen in autopilot without much thinking.
vidarh 10y ago
As much as I detest most of David Davis' views, by virtue of him being a Tory for starters, he deserves praise for being a principled and staunch defender of human rights and privacy rights in general. As long as he is part of the cabinet, we can assume Theresa May will at least be faced with internal opposition. And as long as the Tories have as slim a majority as they do, he will be one of the people guaranteeing that e.g. her ambition to abolish the Human Rights Act won't happen, as he's virtually certain to leave cabinet and stage a rebellion in the commons if she goes that far. There's plenty of stuff he won't be able to stop, though, especially in cases where May can rely on Labour to prop her up.

Interestingly one of the MPs who brought this to the European courts was David Davis, the cabinet minister who has the title 'Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union'

jeremysmyth 10y ago

He has since withdrawn from the case.

OJFord 10y ago
Because he can't be seen to oppose it from cabinet. I don't think his position makes it any more interesting though, this issue has little to do with the EU - other than it being the location of the appropriate court for as long as we remain in the Union.

chippy 10y ago

And the other one, Watson, actually voted FOR the recent Snoopers Charter. More irony.

doc_holliday 10y ago
Do we know why this was? That he changed stance?
- ciaranm 10y ago
  I don't think the cabinet is allowed to vote against the govt.
  - rosbrith 10y ago
    Indeed. Handing out ministerial positions is a good way of quashing dissent in the party.
  - d_theorist 10y ago
    David Davis is the one who's now in the cabinet. Tom Watson is now Labour's deputy leader, and therefore quite decidedly not in the cabinet.
    - ciaranm 10y ago
      Ah, my apologies - I misread the parent comment.
    - chippy 10y ago
      Davis actually didn't vote on the issue.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

_pdp_ 10y ago

A lot of the stuff in the government happen in autopilot without much thinking.

vidarh 10y ago

As much as I detest most of David Davis' views, by virtue of him being a Tory for starters, he deserves praise for being a principled and staunch defender of human rights and privacy rights in general. As long as he is part of the cabinet, we can assume Theresa May will at least be faced with internal opposition. And as long as the Tories have as slim a majority as they do, he will be one of the people guaranteeing that e.g. her ambition to abolish the Human Rights Act won't happen, as he's virtually certain to leave cabinet and stage a rebellion in the commons if she goes that far. There's plenty of stuff he won't be able to stop, though, especially in cases where May can rely on Labour to prop her up.