"I need to say this – you shouldn't trust any government, actually including this one. You should not trust government – full stop. The natural inclination of government is to hoard power and information; to accrue power to itself in the name of the public good."Not just there either. Three days before he said that to The Observer he was saying similar things in The Teletubbygraph in support of the govenment's disappointingly watered down and limited Freedom Bill.
The nature of power is such that, the longer a government has it, the less inclined they are to give it up. We must not take our chances. When it comes to cherished British liberties, even the most well-meaning of governments cannot be trusted.What the hell was going on there? Is some inner classic liberal trying to claw its way out or was he temporarily channeling the spirit of Ronald Reagan?* Whatever the reason it's important that someone reminds him of his own words every time he or the government he's a part of falls short on that ideal, and since that seems to be almost all the time - the Freedom Bill itself being an example - I expect he's going to wish he hadn't said anything before long.
* Not that Reagan lived up to those words since the US government still grew during his time. Still, at least he said it like he might have believed it, or am I just cynical about that because he was an actor?