Nothing to hide, something to fear

The Identity Cards Bill

2005-10-19T08:30:00.000Z

Made it through Third Reading with a Government majority of 25. Now it's off to the Lords again.The debate can be read in full, starting here:And how MPs voted can be seen here:Yet again there were comments that such an important piece of legislation has received relatively little time.

Person walking a bicycle is a security threat

2005-10-17T12:10:00.000Z

'Two wheels: good. Two legs: terrorist suspect'http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1829289,00.html

Draft Terrorism Bill published

2005-10-13T12:00:00.000Z

Yesterday the Government finally published the new draft Terrorism Bill.The text of the Bill can be found here:And the explanatory notes can be found here:

Possible abuses of Terrorism Act

2005-10-04T13:04:00.000Z

In today's Grauniad, George Monbiot writes, "The police abuse terror and harassment laws to penalise dissent while we insist civil liberties are our gift to the world":(linked to the version on his website because it has references, unlike the Guardian version)It's an interesting article.You may also find interesting Liberty's

2005-10-04T08:20:00.000Z

The BBC reports that 'The government has got the go-ahead to challenge a law preventing terror suspects being deported to countries with poor human rights records. The European Court of Human Rights has allowed the UK to challenge the European Convention on Human Rights.'

If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear

2005-10-03T21:43:00.000Z

It is sometimes claimed, by proponents of such schemes as the Identity Cards Bill, that "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear".Even honest and law-abiding citizens have something to be concerned about because there will always be system failures, dishonest individuals, and dishonest authorities. When a bill such as the Identity Cards Bill is discussed, it is vital not only that

Counter-terrorism at the Labour Conference (S44 Terrorism Act 2000)

2005-10-03T19:27:00.000Z

The Sussex Police have been criticised by several people for what could be called a disproportionate use of S44 (Terrorism Act 2000) stop and search powers during this year's New Labour Conference in Brighton & Hove:As far as I'm aware, Walter Wolfgang was the first person at the

Tony Blair's opinion of the criminal justice system

2005-10-03T19:12:00.000Z

Tony Blair at the Labour conference:"For 8 years I have battered the criminal justice system to get it to change. And it was only when we started to introduce special ASB laws, we really made a difference. And I now understand why. The system itself is the problem. We are trying to fight 21st century crime - ASB, drug-dealing, binge-drinking, organised crime - with 19th century methods, as if