• WE write as members of Holborn & St Pancras Labour Party.

In the past two weeks Labour MPs have been whipped to abstain on the second reading of the “Overseas Operation” bill and on October 15 whipped to abstain on the third reading of the “Spycops” bill.

These two bills indicate a further erosion of civil liberties and a further move to a less accountable and authoritarian state.

The “Spycops” bill gives a green light to carry on some of the most appalling abuses already carried out by the security forces against women and men campaigning against injustice.

The “Overseas Operation” bill lessens the accountability of the Ministry of Defence for human rights abuses overseas and the mistreatment of British soldiers.

Liberty, Amnesty, Reprieve, the Hillsborough families and trade unions were among the dozens of groups who called for opposition to these bills.

When Sir Keir Starmer was elected he pledged to bring the party together. The shameful abstentions on these two bills are anathema to values held by Labour and its members and is a contradiction to Sir Keir’s pledges to Labour when seeking election as leader.

We send solidarity to the Labour MPs who stood up for these values and voted against the bills.

PAUL RENNY, SHEZAN RENNY, DIANNE PEARSON, HEATHER BOWER, UNA DOYLE, JOHN WITHINGTON, HARRIET EVANS, DEEPA G DRIVER, MAGS O’REILLY, ANDREW FEINSTEIN, RIVA JOFFE, JULIAN HOUGH, LAUREN HOUGH, KUMIKO SHIMIZU, RUTH APPLETON, PETER WICKENDEN, ZULMA WICKENDEN, NICK WEAVER, LUCY MAY THOMAS, SIMON PEARSON, RICHARD KUPER, PAUL O’BRIEN, REBEKAH BALL, ROBERT WEST, TOM REED, PETE ROBBINS, ELIZABETH DORE, JOANNE O’BRIEN, MARY O’SULLIVAN, AMANDA SEBASTYEN, LUKE PEARSON, PAUL HOLDEN, SUSANNA MITCHELL, STEPHEN KAPOS