The Convention on Modern Liberty (CML) is a British voluntary body and program of the Open Trust, set up in September 2008, that aims to highlight what it sees as the erosion of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

in the UK. Its stated purpose is: "A call to all concerned with attacks on our fundamental rights and freedoms under pressure from counter-terrorism, financial breakdown and the database state".McVeigh, Tracy
Liberty groups unite to defend UK rights
''The Observer'', 1 March 2009. On 13 June 2008, MP David Davis resigned from the House of Commons in protest against the decision to extend detention without charge for possible terrorist offences to 42 days, stating that this was an abuse of anti-terror measures. A week later Mark Ross of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust contacted

Stuart Weir Stuart Weir (born 1938) is a British journalist, writer, and Visiting Professor with the Government Department at the University of Essex. He was previously the Director of the Democratic Audit, formerly a research unit of the University of Esse ...

from the Democratic Audit, Anthony Barnett from openDemocracy's OurKingdom and Peter Facey from

Unlock Democracy Unlock Democracy is a British pressure group, based in London. The organisation campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain, founded upon a written constitution. Unlock Democracy works to promote democratic reform across the politica ...

, and suggested they organize a major public meeting and news coverage about the issue Davis raised. The campaign was founded by Henry Porter, London editor of '' Vanity Fair'', and Anthony Barnett, a founding member of Charter 88. It was sponsored by the

Joseph Rowntree Foundation The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. JRF's stated aim is to "inspire action and change that will create a prosperous UK without poverty." Originally called the ...

, openDemocracy, Liberty (UK),

NO2ID NO2ID is a public campaign group, formed in 2004 to campaign against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce UK ID Cards and the associated National Identity Register (NIR), which it believes has negative implications for privacy, civ ...

, and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

.'' In February 2009, the Convention organised the largest civil liberties gathering ever held in the UK, with meetings of journalists, lawyers, politicians, and campaigners. Speakers included Shami Chakrabarti, Marina Warner, Fatima Bhutto,

Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash CMG FRSA (born 12 July 1955) is a British historian, author and commentator. He is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Most of his work has been concerned with the contemporary history of Europe, with a speci ...

Clive Stafford Smith Clive Adrian Stafford Smith (born 9 July 1959) is a British attorney who specialises in the areas of civil rights and working against the death penalty in the United States of America. He worked to overturn death sentences for convicts, and h ...

, Helena Kennedy, and Joanne Cash.McCrum, Robert
Meet the new freedom fighters
''The Observer'', 22 February 2009. More than 1,500 people attended the main event which was held in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, and linked by video to parallel events in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Notes

External links

The Convention on Modern Liberty

Book review: What Happened to the Convention on Modern Liberty?
openDemocracy. Author - Stuart White. Published 29 March 2010. *

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

br>speaking in a video on belhalf of the Convention on Modern Liberty
Published 9 February 2009. Political organisations based in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub