British author and former journalist Henry Porter writes on privacy in the Observer.
He’s spot on about the incredibly rapid deterioration of civil liberties in the UK.
The argument for social control goes like this: if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear from a national data bank of identity/the terrorism act/the tapping of MPs’ phones/the use of the public-order act to control protest and limit free expression/the new powers of arrest/the retention of DNA samples taken from innocent juveniles.
…Make no mistake – we are wiring up for the police state.
As I continue to repeat, the fear of real or perceived threats has historically been the justification for the biggest assaults on civil liberties.
Furthermore, I’m truly shocked and concerned by what has been happening over in the UK. It’s not only the privacy issues. For example, just glance through the UK section of overlawyered.com. There’s just an extraordinary encroachment of government into people’s lives, under the guise of “safety” and “security” and political correctness — everything from nursery children being made to stay inside, to cutting down fruit trees (so people won’t slip on falling fruit), to having novelty calendars banned. The list is long. Trust me.
Ironically, I’d be scared to live over there. Really. I’d probably be arrested for blogging something in violation of some ridiculous rule.
How’s that for feeling “safe” and “secure”?
Alex Eckelberry