Blair attacks civil liberties groups over terrorism
Current Affairs, Law, State Terror July 2nd, 2007‘In his last broadcast interview before his resignation, Mr Blair insisted that large-scale surveillance of terror suspects was essential, and said some criticism from civil liberties campaigners was “completely absurd… loopy-loo in its extremism”.’
…
“The idea that that’s an assault on hundreds of years of British civil liberties is completely absurd,” he said. The Guardian
I beg to “differ from the hollow lies” and so do many others:
In the period under review [2nd half 2006], instead of bringing people to justice, the UK authorities continued to impose “control orders” under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (PTA) on individuals allegedly involved in “terrorism-related activity”. Consequent judicial proceedings were profoundly unfair, denying individuals the right to a fair hearing, including because of heavy reliance on secret hearings in which intelligence information had been withheld from the appellants and their lawyers of choice, as well as a particularly low standard of proof. Amnesty Int
Lords investigate ‘unconstitutional’ surveillance society – The Register, April 2007
“A recent survey conducted on behalf of the Daily Telegraph found that hundreds of thousands of UK citizens would refuse to sign up to a national identity register in the first place, even if it resulted in fines.” The Register, April 2007
“Four people have been found guilty of defying a ban on unauthorised protests near Parliament.” BBC, January 2006
“However, Parliament should take a long view, and resist the temptation to grant powers to governments which compromise the rights and liberties of individuals. The situations which may appear to justify the granting of such powers are temporary—the loss of freedom is often permanent.”
“…we are not persuaded that the circumstances of the present emergency or the exigencies of the current situation meet the tests set out in Article 15 of the ECHR” Joint Committee On Human Rights (2001) on ANTI-TERRORISM, CRIME AND SECURITY BILL
Also the continuing allegations of extraordinary rendition make me deeply concerned.
“whatever [the state] saith it lieth; and whatever it hath it hath stolen.” Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (oh I love that quote!)
I got to go answer the door… oh I’m “looking, with knowledge, at a member of the Thought Police.”… bye world! (… “completely absurd” indeed…)
Anti Citizen One

July 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
“Revised Patriot Act Will Make It Illegal To Read Patriot Act” – The Onion (satire)
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32312
July 5th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I paradoxically share a similar position to AC-1 here.
However I do not laugh at nor find TB’s comments against civil liberty groups to be risible.
Merely because I believe that the notion that we have civil liberties of any sort is a fiction. The nation-state is an all consuming liberty eating machine. ID cards, extraordinary rendition, these have all occured before in the UK’s history just under different guises.
None of this is a justification of these abuses, purely a rebuke to armchair revolutionaries. Genuine freedom is something that often has to be bought or fought for and the price is often extreme.
The abolition of the nation state as we know it will be the start of such freedom purchases.