So, just when it looked like the government was backing away from its plan to abolish the right to trial by jury in almost all cases, the Labour Party has stepped in to save them. Its being framed as a compromise, of course - Labour has made the law not as bad as it would have been if National and pushed ahead and passed the bill themselves (under urgency, and with a majority consisting of zombies and crazies; good luck passing that off as legitimate). But its not much of one. Now instead of people being able to be locked away for up to three years on the word of a judge alone, they'll "only" be able to lock you up for two. Given that most jury cases fall below that threshold, we're still looking at a massive infringement of people's rights, and a massive increase in state power. Thanks, Labour!
And this is why I can't vote Labour: because the Labour Party cannot be trusted to guard my human rights. It is that simple. If you take human rights seriously, you can't vote Labour.
