Local MP, and candidate for the Labour leadership, Diane Abbott has welcomed calls to scrap random stop and search methods following a ruling by the European High Court which has deemed them illegal.

Diane, who has often spoken about the unfairness of the process, was pleased that the Court upheld its decision yesterday following an appeal by the Lib-Cons.

She said:'I am pleased with the High Court's decision. I have always had great concerns about the erosion of our civil liberties in this post 9/11 society and have made my feelings well known in the House. Non-evidence based and random stop and search has always been ineffective and indefensible; it often does more harm than good by damaging community relations and is well known to target Black and Asian men unfairly. It is also heavy on police time, often with little result, and is a gross invasion of privacy. As Labour leader, I would scrap gimmicks like non-evidence based stop and search and focus police time where it is actually needed.'