Are Control Orders Being Scrapped?

One of Labour’s most controversial pieces of legislation could be removed, but is this simply a re-branding?

You'd be forgiven for being a little confused about the government's position on this; there’s been a lot of contradictory stuff coming out of the coalition this week over control orders. The latest stuff coming out of the coalition is pointing to “control orders will be ditched”, Nick Clegg has spewed out a great deal in recent days that nothing has been confirmed and that there are no guarantees. The reality is that Clegg has been pouring on the “scolding hot water” before the inevitable disappointment. Indeed, Nick Clegg’s comments have even received praise from the Telegraph, a significantly pro-control orders newspaper.

It may well be today that Cameron decided to steal Clegg’s headline today, but unless control orders are genuinely removed, this will be nothing more than a rebranding. The Conservatives have done a lot of rebranding since getting into power; every single reform and proposal has the word “progressive” slapped onto it, they used the brand “academy” to distinguish an entire new school system, Lord Browne’s ideas of lifting the cap from £15,000 to £20,000 for tuition fees repayment and the Part-Time students support were branded as Lib Dem “achievements” whilst in London the cycle scheme initially started by Ken Livingston has been given the nickname “Boris Bikes”. Be fair to Cameron and his PR team; they’re brilliant when it comes to rebranding (even if they’re rubbish at governing).

My thoughts are that if Nick Clegg is going to make an announcement on control orders today, it means that a decision has been made. Ahead of the review being conducted by Lib Dem Peer Lord Macdonald.

So why have decisions apparently been made today? It may well be that the Liberal Democrats are probably being forced to pay the cost of their low position in the polls after last night’s YouGov poll that led to yesterday morning’s Independent headline: “Lib Dem Support hits all-time low” (They weren't at an all time low by the way). Or maybe the Conservatives have realised that they now need the Lib Dems to survive their current polling ordeal in order for the government to survive.

If the answer that comes out has the word ‘compromise’ in it, I will probably be forced to throw up.