David Howarth

David Howarth MP (Liberal Democrat) former MP for Cambridge. Former member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee.

Digital Economy Bill

Has been contacted by at least one ORG supporter.

Children's Digital Rights

When asked about schools fingerprinting our children: "I was very concerned to read of the issues you raise about the introduction of the Junior Librarian Scheme at St Matthew's school and share your worries about the introduction of the scheme without informed parental consent being requested beforehand."

Early Day Motions

Signed Early Day Motion 263 Identity Cards 06 June 2005

That this House believes that a convincing case for the introduction of compulsory biometric identity cards and a national database has not been made, that the risks involved far outweigh any discernible benefit, that the introduction of identity cards will fundamentally change the relationship between the citizen and the state, diminish personal privacy and threaten civil liberties, that the present proposals do not provide properly costed, proportionate or effective solutions to the problems they are claimed to solve; and calls upon the Government to shelve plans for their introduction.

Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006

That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.

Signed Early Day Motion 179 Software in Schools 21 November 2006

That this House congratulates the Open University and other schools, colleges and universities for utilising free and open source software to deliver cost-effective educational benefit not just for their own institutions but also the wider community; and expresses concern that Becta and the Department for Education and Skills, through the use of outdated purchasing frameworks, are effectively denying schools the option of benefiting from both free and open source software and the value and experience small and medium ICT companies could bring to the schools market.

News

2008-07-30 - Liberal Democrats - Innocent people should be removed from DNA database

Author: David Howarth MP

Summary: Commenting on the results of the Citizens’ Inquiry into the DNA database published today which calls for innocent people to have their records removed, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, David Howarth said: "All the experts and the public agree that innocent people should be removed from the DNA database." "There must be better ways of catching criminals than spending millions of pounds of taxpayers money adding innocent people to the DNA database." "Public confidence has been shattered by the Government’s Orwellian attempts to create a national DNA database by stealth." "To restore confidence, ministers must consider placing the DNA database under the control of an independent body."

2008-07-29 - Liberal Democrats - Government cannot be trusted with blank passports let alone ID Cards

Author: David Howarth MP

Summary: Commenting on the theft of 3,000 blank passports from a hijacked van, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, David Howarth said: "The Government has proven time and time again that it cannot be trusted with sensitive documents." "If passports can be stolen this easily, why can't ID Cards?"

2008-02-18 - Liberal Democrat's Press Release - Government cannot handle large amounts of data

Author: David Howarth MP

Summary: Responding to the news that a computer hard drive containing the personal details of up to 5,000 prison staff has been lost, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said"The Government has shown once again that it cannot handle large amounts of data. Why it is persisting with the ID card scheme is beyond comprehension and it should be dropped immediately." "All departments were asked to trawl their systems and reveal all data losses last year, so this smacks of a disturbing culture of secrecy and cover up."