Is Britain still a free state?

[Lonnie]

I think its still free to a point, but its getting less and less so,

You tell me if whats said in this article is true or not.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=5127 21&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=244

[cruella]

Hi Lonnie
In a nutshell I have thought for some time that in this country, the motto is "Big Brother is watching you"
Our road tax is due to be renewed at the end of the month and only today did we get a letter saying it could be done online.
What happened to having to poduce paperwork for the car. They have it all stored in a computer.
That is just the tip of the iceberg.
It may have it's advantages, I don't really know, but even down to all the lost data on part of the nation tells you how much information is held on each and every one of us.
Hope you and yours are fine by the way.

[Lonnie]

Thanks Cruella,
Yes, we'er all ok, and likewise with youand your husband, I sincerely hope he's responding to the treatment.

Back to the Post,
I seems to me, that this goverment, wants us all watched whenever we leave the house, and wants all our details in its databank, right down to what colour underwear we have on.

That last bit was 'tongue in cheek', but you get my drift.

[cruella]

Certainly do Lonnie.
It frightens me the information that is stored on individuals in this country.
What I wonder is, how did we ever get to this stage.
As for us, we are not too good at the moment.
Without going into it all over again, take a look on CB under cruella last night, posted by skyep.
That explains it all.
Cheers Lonnie xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[honest_joe]

It all seemed to go downhill when they introduced the new terror laws. Extra powers were used to deal with innocent demonstrators or marches. The size of MI5 was more than doubled in numbers. The new university trained upstarts, many of them women, trod on the toes of seasoned policemen who had spent years gaining their experience. The police many of them masons objected to their intrusion even though the two agencies should work together.

[jno]

Less and less free, I believe, Lonnie. It seems mostly to be a response to 9/11 and what I think is a ludicrous overreaction on both sides of the Atlantic. As if anyone is going to hijack a plane with their toenail clippers and deodorant. That the US panicked is just about understandable, despite their long history of personal liberty; they'd never known a terrorist attack before. That Britain followed suit is shameful: Britons have lived through Blitzes and IRA bombings for years and should have known better. I don't blame Labour particularly; I believe the Tories in power would have done exactly the same. With no written constitution or bill of rights, our liberties can be easily removed.

It's also clear that many people prefer it that way. Many - including those on AB - are of a punitive frame of mind and would happily see the liberties of paedophiles, chavs, gypsies and other undesirables ignored. But human rights are everybody's or nobody's. If you look the other way when asylum-seekers are bundled out of sight, you needn't expect anyone to notice if the same thing happens to you.

[Ice.Maiden]

Yes - I reckon that little article just about sums everything up nicely.
I certainly wouldn't group paedophiles with chavs and gypsies though, jno.

[Lonnie]

First, thanks for coming back on this,

honest_joe and jno,
I think your both right in what you say, and as for the overreaction, I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't living here, more like a state of panic, or a good excuse to turn us into a police state, except that cctv is taking the place of the police, which is what I believe this goverment has wanted all along. (my personal belief).

Not sure about the Tories though jno, but they weren't in power, so we'll never know.

Ice.Maiden,
I go along with your comments, most definately agree.

[jno]

well I don't think most CCTV is government-installed, Lonnie, it's mostly private and the public in general seem quite relaxed about it. I sometimes wonder if it makes the slightest difference - the only time it gets mentioned, it's usually after some crime and the police announce that the CCTVs in the area all had flat batteries or hadn't been switched on or whatever.

But people go about in such fear these days that most of them seem delighted to imagine that CCTVs are around to keep an eye on evildoers. You yourself seem convinced Britain is about to be taken over by Muslims, whereas I don't think it will ever happen (current proportion of Muslims in Britain: a massive 3%). Why on earth is everyone so scared?

I don't know what the Tory line after 9/11 would have been, but I don't recall any strenuous objection at the time to the measures Labour took.

So are people giving up their freedoms willingly in the interests of 'security'? I suspect they are (apart from grumbling about airport queues); which suggests the government is doing the right thing, giving them what they want.