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| Magna Carta commemorations – live updates | Magna Carta commemorations – live updates |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.13am BST10:13 | |
| Lib Dem leadership front runner Tim Farron has marked the 800th anniversary to urge the government not to scrap the Human Rights Act. Writing on Comment is free he argues the act is is a direct descendant of the Magna Cart and that Tory plans to scrap it will destroy freedoms in Britain. | |
| Now the Tories wants to repeal it. Their sales pitch is about sovereignty – Britain’s over Europe, parliament’s over the courts. Don’t fall for it. You are being duped. Our Human Rights Act specifically preserves the power of British judges to disagree with the Strasbourg court – a power they use. And it preserves parliamentary sovereignty, allowing the courts to only declare legislation “incompatible” with human rights, not strike it down. If David Cameron really cares about these things, he should be championing the act, not trying to scrap it ... | |
| It is no coincidence that, a short stroll up the hill from the Magna Carta commemoration in Runnymede, sits another mark to history – the Kennedy Memorial. When the early colonists arrived in America, they brought with them the principles of the Magna Carta, and enshrined them into their constitution. Indelibly etched on to the Kennedy Memorial are words that are as relevant today as they were 800 years ago, and ones we now find ourselves fighting for all over again. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend or oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.” | |
| Liberty – it was something worth fighting for 800 years ago, it was something worth fighting for in 1945, and we must fight for it now. | |
| 9.57am BST09:57 | |
| Artist Hew Locke gives the Duke of Cambridge an animated tour of his piece the Jurors. It consists of 12 bronze chairs placed in a circle around an invisible table – a direct reference to Clause 39 of Magna Carta, which states that no man can be imprisoned “except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land”. | |
| Prince William tries to look interested. | |
| 9.41am BST09:41 | 9.41am BST09:41 |
| Opening summary | Opening summary |
| Welcome to live coverage of celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary of sealing of Magna Carta. | Welcome to live coverage of celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary of sealing of Magna Carta. |
| Thousands of people are lining the banks of the Thames at Runnymede, near Windsor, for an elaborate commemoration of a document which is regarded as the foundation of parliamentary democracy, human rights and the supremacy of the law over the crown. | Thousands of people are lining the banks of the Thames at Runnymede, near Windsor, for an elaborate commemoration of a document which is regarded as the foundation of parliamentary democracy, human rights and the supremacy of the law over the crown. |
| The Magna Carta may have marked the limits of monarchical power and privilege, but there is due to be plenty of royal pomp on show. | The Magna Carta may have marked the limits of monarchical power and privilege, but there is due to be plenty of royal pomp on show. |
| The Queen, the patron of the Magna Carta Trust, will be joined by other senior members of the royal family, including the Duke of Cambridge. Parliamentarians will led by prime minister David Cameron. | The Queen, the patron of the Magna Carta Trust, will be joined by other senior members of the royal family, including the Duke of Cambridge. Parliamentarians will led by prime minister David Cameron. |
| There will also be a rededication of the American Bar Association’s Magna Carta Memorial and the unveiling of a new art installation commissioned for the anniversary. | There will also be a rededication of the American Bar Association’s Magna Carta Memorial and the unveiling of a new art installation commissioned for the anniversary. |
| Artist Hew Locke was commissioned by the National Trust and Surrey County Council to produce a permanent public artwork on the Runnymede meadow where the document was sealed. | Artist Hew Locke was commissioned by the National Trust and Surrey County Council to produce a permanent public artwork on the Runnymede meadow where the document was sealed. |
| Meanwhile, a Magna Carta replica is being carried down the Thames on the Royal Barge Gloriana accompanied by a flotilla of 200 boats. | Meanwhile, a Magna Carta replica is being carried down the Thames on the Royal Barge Gloriana accompanied by a flotilla of 200 boats. |