Civil liberties of the United Kingdom. In addition, the United Kingdom is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights which covers both human rights and civil liberties. The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates the great majority of Convention rights directly into UK law. In June 2008 the then Shadow Home Secretary David Davis resigned his parliamentary seat over what he described as the "erosion of civil liberties" by the then Labour government, and was re-elected on a civil liberties platform (although he was not opposed by candidates of other major parties). This was in reference to anti-terrorism laws and in
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election in the previous general election of 2005. A small number of previous by-elections have been initiated when the sitting MP resigned on a point of principle and stood for immediate re-election. This has occurred three times since the Second World War, the Lincoln by-election in 1973 and the Mitcham and Morden by-election in 1982 when the sitting MPs changed parties, and in 1986 when fifteen Northern Irish MPs resigned in protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement. In addition in 1955 Sir Richard Acland resigned with the intention to re-contest Gravesend as an independent in protest against the Labour Party's support for