The studio audience sat all agog, the upwards of two million TV viewers were on the edge of their seats and the panel of political and journalistic heavyweights looked slightly uncomfortable with the emotional tirade on human rights being voiced by the Director of Liberty that in one fell swoop challenged accepted opinions, the arrogance of government and the comfortable ease of those in power. Shami Chakrabarti was on Question Time again and definitely making her presence known.
This was February 2009 and the week of a court ruling on extraordinary rendition and an opportunity for the human rights campaigner to really earn her keep. The focus of her speech and the applause of the audience certainly showed she had succeeded. Now it was up to the former Secretary of State for Defence, the Right Honourable Geoff Hoon, to stage a rebuttal. His dismissal of Chakrabarti’s statement as “emotional” didn’t get very far when she savaged him with the words “Yeah, I am emotional about torture, sir. I certainly am!”
Media Style
This straightforward style and dead pan delivery has come to characterise Chakrabarti’s media appearances. Although she may look angry during her media appearances she says she “enjoys doing it. I am not dazzled, spooked or scared anymore. I am just addressing people.”
However, the Director of Liberty has labelled herself as the “Grim Reaper” in a Daily Telegraph comment piece. Her justification for this? “People like me are not usually associated with comedy; we are associated with tough issues. When I appear in the media something unfortunate is usually happening.”
Now as a Director of one of the most prolific pressure groups in the UK for nearly a decade, Chakrabarti has had a phenomenal journey from Home Office lawyer and barrister to, what at points appeared to be, a lone voice for civil liberties in the UK.
Career
From being Liberty’s in-house counsel, Chakrabarti has risen up the ranks to lead one of the most widely known and well respected pressure groups, in an industry that doesn’t always wish to showcase it’s power or influence. When I ask her about how her professional experiences helped her in Liberty she replies pithily – “You don’t have to be a lawyer to be a human rights’ campaigner, but it is very useful.”
Her career reached the point in 2005 where the Today programme listed her as one of the ten people who “may run Britain.” She takes this accolade in her stride. “I think whoever was compiling the list had a good sense of humour. I think it was just part of the context and atmosphere of the time with ID cards on the statute books and the War on Terror. But I take it as a compliment.”
This was followed in 2006 by being listed as the second “Most Inspiring Political Figure” by a popular vote, in Channel Four’s Political Awards. With this award she beat wider known names such as Tony Blair, David Cameron, George Galloway and Bob Geldof, but was pipped to the post by Jamie Oliver.
Average Day
Vision caught up with her on an average Wednesday morning in the office. Well, not that average really. “My days aren’t average. They can range from campaigning in the courts, to lobbying politicians in Parliament, to doing media appearances…my day could go in any number of directions.” It is 9am and, I’ll be honest, I don’t see that many nine o’clocks in the same day. However, Chakrabarti is wide awake, witty, honest and on the ball.
New Labour
Chakrabarti is probably best remembered for her consistent and stinging criticisms of the Blair and Brown governments which earned her the somewhat clichéd epithet of “the thorn in the side of governments”. However, while her reputation may be as a foghorn for the civil liberties movement she remains fair and balanced evaluating New Labour saying they have “a mixed record really.” On a positive note she says “The Human Rights Act was wonderful – it is a positive and consistent measure… and there were many aspects of equality that were good.”
But she does not shy away from laying down criticisms – “They gave up too much freedom and became associated with Bush and the War on Terror, they criminalised young people and they started to wrongly link asylum and crime.” However, the idea that all the problems around civil liberties in the last decade can be pinpointed on one person or group is dismissed by Chakrabarti. “Blair certainly had a big part to play and he was a central feature. But I think everyone had a part to play, especially those around Tony Blair.”
The Burnham Affair
Although criticism and judgement may be part and parcel of Chakrabarti’s job she probably did not expect to be drawn into full scale insults during the debate over plans to extend the custody period in the UK to 42 days.
Liberty used all of its usual methods in an attempt to defeat the bill – lobbying the government, media appearances features in all outlets that would listen, campaigns involving as many MPs as possible, etc. And at the same time David Davis (the then Shadow Home Secretary) decided to resign his parliamentary seat in order to force a by-election debate on the issue of civil liberties.
This led MP Andy Burnham to insinuate that Chakrabarti and Davis were having “late night, hand wringing, heart-melting phone calls.” The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport’s slightly odd accusations are probably something of a sore point for Chakrabarti who dismisses them as “silly remarks which simply trivialised the issue.”
She will not be drawn into whether this affects Burnham’s suitability to lead the Labour Party – he is standing in the recently announced leadership battle triggered by Gordon Brown’s resignation – saying that it is “a matter for the Labour Party”. But she is quick to point out that “he did apologise to me.”
Chakrabarti is not keen to earn political points or capital from the incident that you must feel she would rather forget. But she is forceful in pointing out “this highlights a wider issue about women in public life and how they are treated.”
Coalition Government
In comparison to recent events these battles all seem like ancient history. There is a new Parliament, a new government, a new Prime Minister and new Secretaries of State in place. But will all these new facets of politics lead to change?
“It is only a couple of weeks old so we will see” states Chakrabarti. “On a positive note they are scrapping ID cards and I am happy with the announcement of an inquiry into extraordinary rendition. ..Most of all they have to make sure they work for everyone.” On whether the Lib Dems have done the right thing going into partnership with the Conservatives she is pragmatic and straight forward. “I am not a party political animal. But I think they will be judged on what they achieve.”
One thing Chakrabarti is certain of is the usefulness of the “wonderful” Human Rights Act. “For an infant bill of rights it faced a lot of attacks. But it stood those attacks well. I think when you explain to people what it actually is and what it does it becomes a lot more popular.” It remains to be seen whether Chakrabarti can convince media outlets, who have usually lumped the legislation together with “political correctness gone mad” and “elf and safety craziness”, of the uses of the legislation.
Ideology
But Chakrabarti is not afraid to confront her critics and answer those who dismiss her, as her many appearances on Question Time, Any Questions and a host of other political programmes. “I don’t attack in a personal way. And no one should ever feel guilty about talking up to power.” She remains stringent in her views labelling the “crucial issue” as “whenever there is any interference with free speech there should always be a rigorous debate.”
But the civil liberties campaigner does not maintain a rose-tinted view of a incorruptible world. Her ideology is one of high-minded ideals with a large dollop of realism and cynicism. “Sometimes we are our own worst enemies when dealing with our own privacy. The biggest questions is whether we believe in rights just for British citizens or for everyone in Britain.”
While almost everything in Westminster may be changing one thing remains nearly certain – Chakrabarti will maintain her position as the government’s disgruntled mother-in-law, watching every naive plan, criticising every silly mistake and tut-tutting when it all goes wrong.
Future Plans
Chakrabati seems more than happy in her job. Although she may describe her media performances as akin to the “Grim Reaper” her steely resolve and good humour are infectious and inject a sense of hope into what can often be a depressing subject.
Asked whether she would ever take a job in government she replies “I don’t think so, no. I certainly haven’t been tempted so far. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is just not my thing.” So what are her future plans? “I have no idea. I love what I am doing at the moment; I count it as an enormous privilege.”
With this the mood becomes upbeat. But you can’t help but feel she represents a strict primary school teacher at the start of term in political metaphors.
For her a new government is like a new unruly class. And as soon as they put a foot out of line she will certainly be giving them one hell of a telling off. We will certainly know when the first detention of the year is dished out when another politician has to sit through a grilling on national TV. If I was the producer of Question Time I would be emailing her an invite very soon.