Monday 17 March 2008

How this government has undermined society

Below you will find a small portion of a very thought provoking article from The Observer which reproduced the testimony of Henry Porter to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on Britain's need for a Bill of Rights. The full article can be found on the The Guardian website. As always from an editorial by Henry Porter we get a very interesting article bringing to our attention the continued erosion of civil liberties by the present government.
It is interesting that Britain's need for a Bill of Rights really has only been apparent since the current Labour government has been in power, whether it has been there gradual attacks on civil liberties, their accepting information obtained under torture ( The Independent) or their contempt for the practices and standards of government that have in the past acted as the checks and balances of our governmental system.
I have mentioned in a previous blog entry of the Labour Party's historic paternalistic tendencies and maybe this retreat from civil society is just an extension of our leaders (I use that word advisedly) truly believing they know best and can be trusted to make these difficult complex
moral decisions. Even if you are one of the few people who do believe our leaders have this moral authority, let alone the wisdom, to make these decisions it is clear that with each loss of a safeguard to our rights and privacy the ability to monitor and control the population is increased.

Please read the below bullet points and the whole article and let people know and make them understand what we are losing.

Communications

· Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2002), government agencies make 500,000 secret interceptions of email, internet connections and standard mail.
· Since summer 2007, the government and some 700 agencies have had access to all landline and mobile phone records.

Databases

· Police build network of ANPR cameras on motorways and in town centres. Data stored for two years.
· The National Identity Register will store details of every verification made by ID card holder. Data used without knowledge of citizens.
· ID card enrolment will require biometric details and large amount of personal data.
· The Home Office plans to take 19 pieces of information from anyone travelling abroad. No statutory basis.

Free expressions

· Public-order laws have been used to curtail free expression.
· The Race and Religious Hatred Act (2006) bans incitement of hatred on religious grounds.
· Terror laws are used to ban freedom of expression in some areas.

The courts

· Asbo legislation introduces hearsay evidence which can result in jail sentence.
· The Criminal Justice Act (2003) attacks jury trial.
· Admissibility of bad character, previous convictions and acquittals.
· The Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) allows confiscation of assets without prosecution.
· Special Immigration Appeals Court hearings held in secret.

Terror laws

· Terror laws used to stop and search. Current rate is 50,000 per annum.
· A maximum of 28 days detention without charge.