John Reid? You just lost*. Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips:
“We agree that the facts of this case fall clearly on the wrong side of the dividing line. The orders amounted to a deprivation of liberty contrary to Article 5.

“We consider that the reasons given by Mr Justice Sullivan for quashing the orders are compelling.”

Putting someone under house arrest and only allowing them out between 10am and 4pm? Yup, that’s deprivation of liberty. Restricting who can visit them and who they can associate with? Yup, that’s deprivation of liberty as well.

Reid? Charge ‘em or release them. You’d get cross party support to change the law to allow intercept evidence into court. Many other countries allow such evidence, yet in the UK, you simply want to lock away the nasty men without a fair trial. No thanks.

In related news, we welcome back The Politics of Fear (part mcmxvii). Love that domain name; Intelligence.gov.uk. An oxymoron for this lot, surely?

*I apologise to those of my readers that get that reference. Actually, I don’t, but, y’know…