Imagine a world in which 4.2 million cameras watch our every move. In which the DNA of 4.5 million citizens is held in the world's largest database. In which we can not express our opinions in case it causes offense to those around us. In which we are forced to carry around ID cards to prove our rights; And, in which a suspicion of guilt can lead to our arbitrary arrest and detention for 42 days, without trial.
This sounds like a scene from Orwell, and yet it is in fact a portrait of modern Britain under New Labour... and yet it is not this per se which causes me to be angry. Rather, it is the attitude of the British public: who have allowed themselves to be slowly brought to a point where our liberties are in serious peril!
The latest in a string of illiberal decisions by this government was pushed through the Commons on Wednesday last, in a vote which was so tight it relied of the votes of a small band of Irish MPs to win the day. The new bill will allow British citizens to be locked up without trial for 6 weeks (42 days) and it represents, in my view an appalling attack on our fundamental liberty to go about our lives without fear of arbitrary arrest and detention. It is a suspension of heabus corpus, and reverses the rights that we have enjoyed since the signing of Magna Carta almost 800 years ago.
It's supporters claim that it is a necessary measure to ensure our security in an age of terrorism, and 69% of the British public are convinced that “in exceptional circumstances” we do need powers like these.
We are asked by supporters of the bill to think back to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York and 7/7 in London and imagine that these attacks could have been stopped if only we had been more proactive. But are we really deluded enough to believe that there is anything that could have stopped so determined an enemy; and what exactly are we defending if we are so willing to throw away our fundamental liberties?
A further reason given in favour of this law is that it is that it is only “terrorists” that have anything to fear, and not law-abiding citizens. But they would think that wouldn't they? Because it's not their brothers, sisters, sons and daughters who will be targeted by this legislation! The reality is that this kind of law does not affect the vast majority of the population because in modern Britain potential terrorist attacks now come almost exclusively from a small indigenous Muslim population: A fact which should make this legislation even more disturbing!
As a general rule any law which overtly or covertly singles out a minority group for special treatment under the law, goes against everything our legal system has been based on for centuries and everything it should be based on. In fact, it is exactly the kind of legislation which leads us down a path towards totalitarianism, which is something Winston Churchill understood better than anyone:
“The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgement of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.”
- Winston ChurchillThe entire debate in this country has focused on how many days are “enough” to ensure our safety and yet surely, the real question we should be asking is should we be doing this at all? The answer can be found by completing the Churchill quotation above:
"...Nothing is more abhorrent than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization."
