Portrait of the Week – 25 February 2006

A clause to criminalise the ‘glorification’ of terrorism, which had been removed from the Terrorism Bill by the Lords, was reinstated when the Bill was passed in the Commons by a majority of 38, with only 17 Labour MPs voting against the government. Mr Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, said after the vote, ‘The type of demonstrations that we saw a couple of weeks ago, where I think there were placards and images that people in this country felt were totally offensive, the law will allow us to deal with those people and say, “Look, we have free speech in this country, but don’t abuse it”.’ A High Court judge ruled that the General Medical Council should not have struck off Professor Roy Meadow for having given mistaken evidence as an expert witness that resulted in the conviction of Sally Clarke for murdering her two children, a conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal; expert witnesses had immunity from action by professional bodies, the judge ruled.