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 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 The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

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 {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...

contacted Stuart Weir 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 Charter 88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the ''New Statesman'' magazine in 1988 and it took its name ...

. 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 openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...

, Liberty (UK), NO2ID, 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 Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promote ...

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner, (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publicat ...

Fatima Bhutto Fatima Bhutto ( ur, ; , born 29 May 1982) is a Pakistani writer and columnist. Born in Kabul, she is the daughter of politician Murtaza Bhutto, sister of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr, niece of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and gran ...

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 spe ...

, Clive Stafford Smith,

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Ea ...

, 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, 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 Kingdom ...

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 College town, 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. Cam ...

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 minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

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