Deputy Clegg outlines plans on liberty

"This government is going to transform our politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state," Clegg will say, in his first speech as deputy prime minister, reports The Guardian . He will add: "I'm talking about the most significant programme of empowerment by a British government since the great enfranchisement of the 19th century," referring to the Great Reform Act of 1832 which extended the vote to those without land. In the speech on 19 May 2010, Clegg will claim he is not offering incremental change, but a wholesale approach to political reform. He will promise abolition of the ID card scheme, the National Identity Register and second generation biometric passports. In his speech Clegg will also promise: "We won't hold your internet and email records when there is just no reason to do so. CCTV will be properly regulated, as will the DNA database, with restrictions on the storage of innocent people's DNA. "And we will end practices that risk making Britain a place where our children grow up so used to their liberty being infringed that they accept it without question." The ContactPoint database, designed to hold information on all children under 18, will be scrapped and schools "will not take children's fingerprints without even asking their parents' consent". Away from IT, Clegg will promise to repeal restrictions on the right to protest, and review libel laws. He will also say he will ask the public to tell the government which of thousands of criminal offences should be repealed, saying taking away people's freedom has not made people safe. He will also promise a mechanism to block pointless new criminal offences, as pledged by the Liberal Democrats. An independent commission will consider the case for a British bill of rights, which would supplant the European convention of human rights, given disagreement between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties on this. Clegg will also work on introducing elections for the House of Lords, reform of political funding and a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons.