Clegg crowdsourcing site crashes in heavy traffic

Value Your Freedom website encourages the public to suggest oppressive laws for revision or repeal

* Patrick Wintour, political editor
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 July 2010 17.58 BST


Nick Clegg's new website aimed at gathering public suggestions for the repeal of oppressive laws repeatedly crashed today due to heavy traffic.

Opposition to cannabis laws, criminal records checks, the hunting ban, fixed-penalty notices, police stop and search powers, internet downloading restrictions, and controls on child minders were some of the popular entries in what Clegg, the deputy prime minister, today hailed as "a raucous initiative that the government was not supposed to control".

Other ideas posted by the public included castrating paedophiles , curtailing the powers of the DVLA, allowing self-balancing scooters, repealing the power of the church to order local parishioners to pay for costs of church repairs and allowing brothels in private homes. There was also a call for repeal of laws that prevent humans marrying horses.

The Value Your Freedom website seemed to be attracting visitors much like those that e-petitioned Downing Street in the past. The No10 site is now under review by the new government which is not taking any more submissions. The largest e-petition on the No 10 site opposing road pricing and attracted 1.8 million people.

The deputy prime minister's spokesman said he would not be responding to particular ideas posted on the website on a rolling basis, but would instead let the process continue.

Clegg promised that every entry to his new website would be monitored and filtered before publication of a freedom bill in the autumn.

In mid-afternoon the most commented on entry was a call to bring back the death penalty, a measure that arguably interferes with individual liberty.

In a speech unveiling the website Clegg said: "We want the British people to have their say on where the state should step in, and where it should butt out.

"We are asking people for ideas on restoring hard won liberties that have been lost, on repealing unnecessary laws that have no place on the statute book, and on stripping away the excessive regulation that stops businesses from innovating."

Clegg and his new policy adviser Richard Reeves, a biographer of John Stuart Mill and former head of Demos, both intend to put a strong ideological emphasis on liberty inside the coalition.

He said: "The purpose of the law is to protect and empower citizens. That is the only time the state ever has the right to restrict your behaviour.

"As soon as we forget that we open the door to state intrusion. We lose that kneejerk indignation we should all feel when the state sticks its nose in where it doesn't belong."

Laws he identified for repeal included sedition law and the requirement to report the sighting of a grey squirrel in the back garden to the state.

Clegg said: "Our ambition is to create a society where no law-abiding individual ever feels intimidated by the state, just for going about their day-to-day business. Where people aren't cast under suspicion simply because of who they are, or where they're from.

"But that means redoubling our efforts to restore the great British traditions of freedom and fairness. The culture of snooping and mistrust has become so ingrained that we must tackle it with renewed vigour. Don't accept it.

"If you're sick of the state prying into your private affairs, tell us. If you feel harassed when you haven't done anything wrong, tell us. If there are ways that we can better protect your dignity, tell us."

Clegg's aides admitted there was something contradictory about asking the state to help get the state off their back, but said it was the only way such a change could be achieved.

He also said the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, will be running a parallel freedom operation in local government.

Clegg crowdsourcing site crashes in heavy traffic | Law | The Guardian

Originally Posted by contracycle

Other ideas posted by the public included castrating paedophiles , curtailing the powers of the DVLA, allowing self-balancing scooters, repealing the power of the church to order local parishioners to pay for costs of church repairs and allowing brothels in private homes. There was also a call for repeal of laws that prevent humans marrying horses. The Value Your Freedom website seemed to be attracting visitors much like those that e-petitioned Downing Street in the past.

Really? Cos I was on it just before it crashed and I didn't see any of that stuff. There were a couple of pages of submissions under each heading and they were largely surprisingly sensible.

Surely the Guardian can't be making up propaganda stories to discredit a good initiative by a government that it's hated from the begining..?

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Remove the law preventing incest and beastiality

by Cooper23 on July 01, 2010 at 01:02PM

In many parts of the country such as East Anglia and the South West, marrying of close family members, up to brothers and sisters, along with beastiality, is a long standing rural tradition, just like ripping apart small animals with packs of dogs. Clearly the townee do gooders do not understand the ways of the country and should keep out of our business. It should be up to our consience if we want to marry our sisters or our horses, and not up to someone sitting in an office in a city to say if it is right. This is all part of the constant class war waged against the upper classes. Marrying close family is how we keep our blood pure. Ok our children end up defective and ugly, but who cares, they only have to be attractive to each other, and farm animals. It is also about time the English were given the same rights as the Welsh where Sexual Intercourse and Marriage with Sheep have already been legalised by the Welsh Assembly.

Why the contribution is important

Incest and Beastiality are long standing rural traditions and townees should keep their noses out. Tally Ho!

Remove the law preventing incest and beastiality — HMG - Your Freedom

Castrate Paedophiles

by vbcheshire on July 01, 2010 at 11:11AM

Castrate Paedophiles and other sex offenders. This could be at the discretion of the trial judge, based on the weight of evidence, and previous conviction and the severity of the crime. It could also be a condition of release into the community so that offenders could be given the opportunity of being released early on licence only if they agree to castration.

Why the contribution is important

Castrating Paedophiles and other sex offenders would offer the only real chance of rehabilitation. This would allow them to be released back into the community safely, therefore saving a fortune on prison costs. It would send a clear message to potential offenders that this country will not tolerate the abuse of vulnerable people. For those that argue that it’s too barbaric or that life is not worth living without testicles then perhaps we could learn from those who have lost testicles due to cancer or injury. This is a simple, obvious and cost-effective solution to a problem that has caused pain and suffering to many.

Castrate Paedophiles — HMG - Your Freedom

Ah well, looks like I was wrong. I suppose it was too good to last.

Good luck with that Revolution by the way. Considering the material you've got to work with it should be a blast!

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Standard disclaimer: the disgusting statements contained in this post are the views of the poster, and unless specified do not represent the views of the moderators or the site's owners.

Originally Posted by Zichao

Ah well, looks like I was wrong. I suppose it was too good to last.

I don't see any harm in it. I'm in favour of a pluraliuty of views, after all.

Quote:

Good luck with that Revolution by the way. Considering the material you've got to work with it should be a blast!

You're exactly right.

The good news is that neither men nor women are likely to catch an STD from a donkey. What would be the ethical considerations for and against establishing a brothel where farm animals rather than humans provided the service?