Civil liberties have been a longstanding concern for the Labour Party. In the words of its 1945 general election manifesto: ‘The Labour Party stands for freedom – for freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of the Press. The Labour Party will see to it that we keep and enlarge these freedoms, and that we enjoy again the personal civil liberties we have, of our own free will, sacrificed to win the war.’ However, the means used to secure these freedoms have changed significantly since the Party’s inception, shifting from a collectivist focus on group rights negotiated by the trade unions or the state to an approach designed to empower citizens as individuals. The first part of this chapter demonstrates that the British socialist belief in civil liberties has traditionally been expressed in universal welfare entitlements and a commitment to protect individuals from arbitrary state action. Both have been challenged in recent times due to the ‘war on terror’ and an ongoing period of austerity, and the chapter argues that a reaffirmation of these principles is needed in order to promote Labour’s longstanding goals of freedom and social justice. Finally, the chapter argues that Labour should act as a champion of civil liberties. In particular, it should ensure a better balance between liberty and security; strengthen civil liberties while harnessing them to their concomitant duties; and promote social justice through a vigorous defence of our economic and social rights.

Civil liberties and British social democracy

Social democrats have traditionally adopted a collectivist view of civil liberties, seeking to empower people through group rights negotiated by the trades unions or the state. As Roy Hattersley puts it, democratic socialism required the ‘use of collective power to increase individual rights and to extend individual freedom’. These rights were not only political but economic and social, and, in the context of the welfare state, were present in universal entitlements to, for instance, housing, education and welfare benefits. By redistributing resources in this way, Labour sought to reduce inequality and so promote freedom and social justice.

For most of the twentieth century, many social democrats rejected constitutional reform as the means of securing individual rights and freedoms.