All Topics  
Liberty (pressure group)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Liberty (pressure group)
 
 
  Topics Liberty (pressure group) Topic Home

Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd
Ronald Kidd

Ronald Kidd was a civil rights campaigner.Born on July 11, 1889 in London, England, the son of surgeon Leonard Joseph Kidd, grandson of doctor Joseph Kidd, and nephew of doctors Percy Kidd and Walter Aubrey Kidd, Ronald Hubert Kidd had a variety of jobs before finding his vocation as a campaigner against injustices in 1930s and 1940s Brita...
 and Sylvia Crowther-Smith (later Scaffardi), it campaigns to protect civil liberties
Civil liberties

Civil liberties are Freedom that protect the individual from the government. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its Political power and interfere with the lives of its citizens....
 and promote human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
. In some cases Liberty also provides legal representation for people where it considers that rights have been breached.

The immediate spur to its formation was the National Hunger March, 1932. The first Secretary was Ronald Kidd
Ronald Kidd

Ronald Kidd was a civil rights campaigner.Born on July 11, 1889 in London, England, the son of surgeon Leonard Joseph Kidd, grandson of doctor Joseph Kidd, and nephew of doctors Percy Kidd and Walter Aubrey Kidd, Ronald Hubert Kidd had a variety of jobs before finding his vocation as a campaigner against injustices in 1930s and 1940s Brita...
, and first President E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster

Edward Morgan Forster Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour , was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and librettist....
; Vice-Presidents were the politician and author A. P. Herbert
A. P. Herbert

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, Order of the Companions of Honour was an England humour, novelist, playwright and law reform activist. He was Member of Parliament for Oxford University for 15 years, five of which he combined with service in the Royal Navy....
 and the journalist Kingsley Martin
Kingsley Martin

Kingsley Martin was a United Kingdom journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman for thirty years, from 1930 to 1960....
 of the New Statesman
New Statesman

The New Statesman is a United Kingdom left-wing politics magazine published weekly in London. The current editor is Jason Cowley, whose appointment was announced on 16 May 2008....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Liberty (pressure group)'
Start a new discussion about 'Liberty (pressure group)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
. Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd
Ronald Kidd

Ronald Kidd was a civil rights campaigner.Born on July 11, 1889 in London, England, the son of surgeon Leonard Joseph Kidd, grandson of doctor Joseph Kidd, and nephew of doctors Percy Kidd and Walter Aubrey Kidd, Ronald Hubert Kidd had a variety of jobs before finding his vocation as a campaigner against injustices in 1930s and 1940s Brita...
 and Sylvia Crowther-Smith (later Scaffardi), it campaigns to protect civil liberties
Civil liberties

Civil liberties are Freedom that protect the individual from the government. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its Political power and interfere with the lives of its citizens....
 and promote human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
. In some cases Liberty also provides legal representation for people where it considers that rights have been breached.

The immediate spur to its formation was the National Hunger March, 1932. The first Secretary was Ronald Kidd
Ronald Kidd

Ronald Kidd was a civil rights campaigner.Born on July 11, 1889 in London, England, the son of surgeon Leonard Joseph Kidd, grandson of doctor Joseph Kidd, and nephew of doctors Percy Kidd and Walter Aubrey Kidd, Ronald Hubert Kidd had a variety of jobs before finding his vocation as a campaigner against injustices in 1930s and 1940s Brita...
, and first President E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster

Edward Morgan Forster Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour , was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and librettist....
; Vice-Presidents were the politician and author A. P. Herbert
A. P. Herbert

Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, Order of the Companions of Honour was an England humour, novelist, playwright and law reform activist. He was Member of Parliament for Oxford University for 15 years, five of which he combined with service in the Royal Navy....
 and the journalist Kingsley Martin
Kingsley Martin

Kingsley Martin was a United Kingdom journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman for thirty years, from 1930 to 1960....
 of the New Statesman
New Statesman

The New Statesman is a United Kingdom left-wing politics magazine published weekly in London. The current editor is Jason Cowley, whose appointment was announced on 16 May 2008....
. Its current director is Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti

Shami Chakrabarti Order of the British Empire , has been the director of Liberty , a United Kingdom pressure group, since September 2003. Chakrabarti is the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University....
.

Liberty was adopted as the working name of the The National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL). This title had been used earlier, in World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, for an organisation founded as the National Council Against Conscription, which changed its name in 1916. This former organisation may not have lasted longer than until about 1918, and no connection can be assumed.

The structure of Liberty comprises three organisations:

  • Liberty - an unincorporated association
    • This is the member-based organisation which individuals can join.
  • Liberty - the company
    • This is the company that employs Liberty staff, leases buildings, etc
  • The Civil Liberties Trust
    • This is a company and a charity
      Charitable organization

      The definition of charitable organization, and of charity, varies according to the country and in some instances the region of the country in which the charitable organization operates....
      , independent of Liberty


In 2003 the post of Liberty Director was taken up by Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti

Shami Chakrabarti Order of the British Empire , has been the director of Liberty , a United Kingdom pressure group, since September 2003. Chakrabarti is the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University....
.

Recently, Liberty acted for the whistleblower
Whistleblower

A whistleblower is a person who alleges misconduct. More complex definitions may be used, but the issue is that the whistleblower usually faces reprisal....
 Katharine Gun
Katharine Gun

Katharine Teresa Gun is a former translator for Government Communications Headquarters , a United Kingdom intelligence agency. In 2003, she became publicly known for leaking top-secret information to the press concerning illegal activities by the United States of America in their push for the 2003 invasion of Iraq....
 who claimed that the American National Security Agency
National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a Cryptology Intelligence agency of the Federal government of the United States, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense....
 had requested the British Government's help in illegal surveillance on the UN. She was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act

The Official Secrets Act is any of several Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the protection of official information, mainly related to national security....
. The charges were dropped when the prosecution failed to offer any evidence.

Liberty is a supporter of the NO2ID
NO2ID

NO2ID, the public campaign, was formed in 2004 to campaign against the United Kingdom government's plans to introduce British national identity card and the associated National Identity Register, which it believes has negative implications for privacy, civil liberties and personal safety....
 coalition.

The Main issues that Liberty represent in the UK at the moment are:

  • Torture
    Torture

    Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is:In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may be motivated to inflict torture on others for similar reasons to those of a state; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadism gratification of the torturer, as was the case in the Moors M...
  • Privacy
    Privacy

    Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively....
  • Asylum seekers
  • Equality
  • Free speech and protest
  • ASBOs
  • The Human Rights Act
    Human Rights Act

    A Human Rights Act is a piece of legislation that sets out individual rights and freedoms under law. Many countries have similar rights enshrined into law; the countries with this naming convention tend to be Commonwealth countries....
  • Young Peoples' rights
    Youth rights

    Youth rights refers to a set of philosophies intended to enhance civil rights for Adolescent. They are a response to the perceived oppression of young people, with advocates challenging ephebiphobia, adultism and ageism through youth participation, youth/adult partnerships, and ultimately, intergenerational equity....


See also

  • Hall-Carpenter archives
    Hall-Carpenter Archives

    The Hall-Carpenter Archives are named after the authors Radclyffe Hall and Edward Carpenter . They are housed at the London School of Economics and Middlesex University....
  • American Civil Liberties Union
    American Civil Liberties Union

    The American Civil Liberties Union consists of two separate non-profit organizations: the ACLU Foundation, a 501 organization which focuses on litigation and communication efforts, and the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501 organization which focuses on legislative lobbying....
    , an American
    United States

    The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
     equivalent


External links