Senior MP in shock resignation

Former Conservative Party leadership hopeful and Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has resigned his position in the House of Commons, sparking a surprise and dangerous by-election. He resigned in protest at the government’s introduction of a new bill that now allows police to hold terrorist suspects for up to 42 days without charge.

He said his actions were taken so that, ‘this monstrosity of a law that we passed yesterday will not stand,’ in a speech made to the press at 13oo GMT today. ‘I will fight it, I will argue against the slow strangulation of fundamental freedoms,’ he said.

His resignation will now cause a by-election to be held in his constituency of Halftemprice and Howden. He said that he realised that he ‘might have made his last speech to the house,’ but felt that ‘the time was right to take a stand.’

Mr Davis is one of the most prominent members of the Conservative Party and this dramatic move will be seen as a full frontal assault on the Labour government. Mr Davis indicated that he felt the passing of yesterday’s act breached fundamental liberties which in this country had stretched back to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.

He also spoke of his concern that if the government was defeated in a subsequent debate in the House of Lords, that they may enact the Parliament Act to push the legislation through. ‘I felt it incumbent upon me to take a stand,’ he said.

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