Thaindian News

London, May 19 (DPA) Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pledged Wednesday that the new Conservative-Liberal government would roll back the boundaries of the state in what he called a “power revolution”.
Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader and junior coalition partner in the government led by David Cameron, said in a speech to students in London: “It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform”.

He listed the introduction of fixed-termed parliaments in Britain, a fully elected House of Lords, and a referendum on a change in the voting system as being among the goals agreed with the Conservative coalition partner.

The government would also abolish previous Labour plans to introduce ID cards in Britain and scrap plans for the launch of biometric passports.

The use of surveillance cameras would be subjected to greater regulation and there would be limitations of how long the DNA of innocent people could be stored.

“Britain was once the cradle of modern democracy. We are now, on some measures, the most centralised country in Europe,” said Clegg.

The government wanted to transform politics “so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state”.

Large parts of the Liberal Democrats’ civil liberties agenda have been incorporated into the coalition agreement.

However, pushing the changes through parliament will become the real test for the government, according to political observers.