Ian Parker, a writer new to me, has an excellent story on the dangers of the database state that ends with:
In a free society, the rights and laws protect the individual from the government. In a dictatorship, the rights and laws protect the government from the people.
So very true. We’ve written at length here in the past about the dangers of the National Identity Register, but as Ian says:
I can hear Mr Blair protesting now that this is not what all these laws are for, but Mr Blair, please understand, THIS IS HOW THEY WILL BE APPLIED, if not in a dictatorial regime, certainly one in which it is very easy to hit all your targets when the laws are all on your side.
(via)
January 15th, 2007
Posted by
MatGB |
National Identity Register |
no comments
Via D-Notice I see that this afternoon is another registration day for one of Mark Thomas‘ Mass Lone Protests, forms to be handed in at the Police Station on Agar Street, just up from Charing Cross station. As I’m in London (flat, then job, hunting), might as well register my presence.
If anyone else cares to join us, I’ll probably be in a pub for a bit afterwards as well (no idea which pub, naturally, I’m not, yet, a Londoner)…
January 10th, 2007
Posted by
MatGB |
socpa, exclusion zone |
no comments
Donald’s on form:
STATEMENT: If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.
QUESTION: Do you have curtains?
STATEMENT: They’re to stop anyone perving over intimate moments with my wife.
QUESTION: You do know that as soon as they upload your STD records on that health database, the whole of Whitehall can see everyone you’ve fucked since freshers’ week?
Write To Them. Or chase down a Swiss grandad.
Damn stupid idiotic centralising authoritarian fools. Technology will solve all our problems. Especially if it’s a technology that we don’t really understand and will subcontract to a bunch of incompetents like Capita et al…
November 4th, 2006
Posted by
TaKtiX |
NuLab, civil liberties, National Identity Register |
one comment
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have a sensible, adult debate about crime, punishment and rehabilitation without it devolving to the mudslinging about being “soft on criminals” that we sometimes see stuck as labeled on anyone who thinks the current system is palpably failing?
October 11th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
legal system, prison, John Reid |
one comment
When I started writing at NLE, I wasn’t a member of any particular party; I was fairly disillusioned with the whole process of party politics generally and partizan sniping as a specific. Far too often, politics and politicians seemed to be about what you were opposed to, not what you were in favour of. The more I wrote, and read the thoughts and opinions of others, the more my views and opinions were refined.
September 23rd, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
Liberty, socpa, LibDems, humour, National Identity Register, admin, Great Repeal Act |
3 comments
Well, Mark Thomas’ demo seems to have gone ok, shame I couldn’t make it. I’m so looking forward to moving to London. Anyway, how about this as a reaction?
But the protest has had its critics, with Tory London Assembly member Brian Coleman calling them “sad, mad and bad”.
“Is this really the image we want to give of London - tourists whose income we rely on for the jobs and prosperity of our city?”
Well no you fool. That’s the whole damned point!
Ye gods, this sort of thing is bad for the image of London because it highlights the absurdity of the laws that affect London. Remove the stupid law and you’re fine. Gah!
As Liadnan puts it:
“Bugger civil liberties, think of the tourist trade?” And in what universe would the tourist trade be adversely affected?
What a tedious cock.
Still busy, distracted and not in the mood for serious blogging. Week off next week, might, hopefully, clear my head. In the meantime, I await the reports of the event from those that were able to attend.
August 31st, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
freedom, Liberty, socpa, exclusion zone |
3 comments
Hmmm…
- Get elected leader of Conservative party
- Appoint a respected elder statesman to lead an enquiry into renewing British democracy and the constitutional settlement
- Make a speech proposing a significant constitutional reform
- Completely forget to even mention it to said elder statesman and thus undermine his whole efforts.
Well done Dave. You impress me less and less every day.
Mr Clarke said the Tory leader would find it difficult to find lawyers who would agree with his plan to replace the Human Rights Act with the new Bill.
Despite heading a Tory task force on constitutional issues, Mr Clarke said he was not forewarned about the plans.
Not the best of plans methinks. In fact, given that the speech itself was completely half baked, I’m given to drawing the conclusion that he didn’t think this one through very well at all.
Mr Clarke said: “In these home affairs things I think occasionally it’s the duty of politicians on both sides to turn round to the tabloids and right-wing newspapers and say ‘you have your facts wrong and you’re whipping up facts which are inaccurate’.”
Said they should have elected him leader. We’re screwed, arent’ we? To get rid of Blair’s New Labour, we need to get people to vote Tory. How can we do that when Dave just hasn’t got a clue and plays to the gallery?
June 27th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
Reform, Constitution, Liberty, Conservatives, Cameron, Ken Clarke, Bill of Rights, Human Rights Act |
no comments
Ok, I’m swamped at work, and Dave goes and makes a speech promising some radical reform. Except that, well, he seems to have fluffed it. I’ve been trawling around; does anyone have anything good to say about it? Blogsearch gives me nothing. Best I’ve found is Liadnan at NM’s:
I am, nevertheless, hopeful, that this could turn into serious thinking on constitutional matters in general. I see it as a major problem with this Government’s reforms that they have been piecemeal and incoherent.
It appears to me it’s miss informed posturing and playing to the gallery. Obsolete has an excellent summary of the principle objections. Of course, a decent, enforcable Bill of Rights would require a new constitutional settlement. Something I’m wholeheartedly in favour of. With both Brown and Dave posturing on the issue, and the LibDems completely committed to such an endeavour, is it possible that the parties may start competing on who can do the best job of fixing the constitution?
I’d love to think so. Odds? Hmm. “This is your captain speaking, we do apologise for the turbulence, this was caused by a flock of pigs getting caught in the engines…”
If anyone does find someone that both knows what they’re talking about and thinks Dave is on the right lines, throw me a link?
June 26th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
Leadership, Reform, Constitution, Cameron, Bill of Rights, Human Rights Act, HRA |
no comments
Terry Waite (of kidnapped and held as hostage fame) in Wednesdays Independent (not online):
I wish more people would take notice of…
The gradual and insidious restriction of personal liberties in this country as a result of the hype about terrorism. There is a tendency in this government to be reactive without thinking deeply. We’re letting a lot of things slip by. If we allow that to happen, terrorism has won because it’s deprived us of hard-fought liberties.
(my emphasis)
Boris Johnson:
I have been talking to Agnes Callamard, who leads a free speech charity called Article 19, and she tells me that wherever she now goes on her missions, she finds a shocking new phenomenon. She has just been to the Maldives, where the government is engaged in active repression of the press, shutting down radio stations and locking up journalists if they even carry quotations from the opposing MDP. When she remonstrated, she was told that any criticism was a bit rich coming from a British organisation, given that the British Government has just passed draconian new measures against incitement in the Terrorism Bill.
It was the same story in Nepal, where torture has been used regularly against opponents of the regime, and where there are similar restrictions on free speech. “A senior government official told us that they were only cracking down on terrorists, in the way that they do in the UK,” said Callamard.
picking the exerpt to quote on that one was hard, go read the whole article; when I disagree with him, I respect Boris’s writing style. When I agree with him (as in this case)? Brilliance.
It’s reading Boris and similar that has led me to conclude that not all the Tories are evil bastards. That’s still hard for a part of me to accept. But I’d rather have Boris in Govt than the current shower, at least he values the principles we’re supposedly fighting the war on terror to defend.
Final word:
Of course these analogies are opportunistic and false, and of course there is no real comparison between Britain and Malaysia, let alone Zimbabwe. Thanks to the goodness of the editor of this paper, I can say more or less whatever I want, provided it is not too catastrophic for circulation. But what Blair fails to understand, when he promulgates this endless succession of new and ineffective Criminal Justice Bills, and when he curtails trial by jury and freedom of speech, and when he enacts all the other potential erosions of liberty that we have seen over the past nine years, is that he is handing a perfect pretext to the despots of the world.
June 1st, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
freedom, terrorism, torture, Terry Waite, Boris Johnson |
2 comments
Sue Welsh is writing
a series on the Convention. Today’s
article is Article 3 - The absolute prohibition of torture
No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
There’s no derogation from that one. There’s no get out clause. There should never be a need for one. Why is the idea that we can’t deport people who are under threat of torture at home controversial? Why is our Government, and it’s principle ally, ducking around the issue and trying to justify why certain things aren’t torture? What is wrong with the world?
May 17th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
Human Rights Act, torture, European Convention on Human Rights |
no comments
I wanted to rant about this at length. But, it appears, I don’t need to. Language warning. No, not for DK’s post, you already know about his language. It’s Tim’s post that needs the warning. Yup, Tim Worstall is angry enough to title a post “fuck him”. More here and here, and doubtless in other places as well.
Message for Mr Clarke
You want to compensate the “victims of crime”? Good. Don’t you think the innocent locked away for a crime they didn’t commit is just as much a victim as the crimed against*?
You’ll save £5 million quid a year. Why not save much more money than that by scrapping the White Elephant National Identity Register? Oh, I forgot, that’s needed so the contract can be given to a nice Labour donating company like Crapita, right?
If we as a society get things wrong and imprison the innocent it is our duty, as that very society, to both say sorry and to compensate them as best we can.
*Obviously, context is all here, but the point stands
April 20th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
NuLab, Charles Clarke, compensation, legal system, wrongful conviction |
one comment
People may be interested to see NO2ID’s latest campaign against ID cards. They are asking all those opposed to the introduction of ID cards to Renew For Freedom by renewing their passports in May. Hopefully this will create a surge in the number of passport applications big enough to highlight the number of people who are against compulsory ID cards.
Or it might fall flat on it’s face, as I’m sure the government will claim support for ID cards if the number renewing isn’t particularly high…
Hopefully though, it will provide the catalyst for people who have said “I better renew my passport before then” to actually get around to doing it. Me included.
April 19th, 2006
Posted by
PaulJ |
NuLab, civil liberties, ID cards, NO2ID |
one comment
Hmm, I’d never heard of the site before, but Silicon.Com has an excellent series of articles on ID cards, the NIR, the potential commercial uses for the scheme, what will happen in the event of serious disturbance, etc.
In addition to this, John Pilger (a journalist I only sometimes agree with) has an excellent, if hyperbolic, article on the implications of ID, the NIR and the Leg/Reg Bill in this weeks New Statesman.
The dying of freedom in Britain is not news. The pirouettes of the Prime Minister and his political twin, the Chancellor, are news, though of minimal public interest. Looking back to the 1930s, when social democracies were distracted and powerful cliques imposed their totalitarian ways by stealth and silence, the warning is clear. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill has already passed its second parliamentary reading without interest to most Labour MPs and court journalists; yet it is utterly totalitarian in scope.
—
Those who fail to hear these steps on the road to dictatorship should look at the government’s plans for ID cards, described in its manifesto as “voluntary”. They will be compulsory and worse. An ID card will be different from a driving licence or passport. It will be connected to a database called the NIR (National Identity Register), where your personal details will be stored. These will include your fingerprints, a scan of your iris, your residence status and unlimited other details about your life. If you fail to keep an appointment to be photographed and fingerprinted, you can be fined up to £2,500.
Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office, every pharmacy and every bank will have an NIR terminal where you can be asked to “prove who you are”. Each time you swipe the card, a record will be made at the NIR - so, for instance, the government will know every time you withdraw more than £99 from your bank account. Restaurants and off-licences will demand that the card be swiped so that they are indemnified from prosecution. Private business will have full access to the NIR. If you apply for a job, your card will have to be swiped. If you want a London Underground Oyster card, or a supermarket loyalty card, or a telephone line or a mobile phone or an internet account, your ID card will have to be swiped.
In other words, there will be a record of your movements, your phone calls and shopping habits, even the kind of medication you take.
—
Like the constitution-hijacking bill now reaching its final stages, and the criminalising of peaceful protest, ID cards are designed to control the lives of ordinary citizens (as well as enrich the new Labour-favoured companies that will build the computer systems). A small, determined and profoundly undemocratic group is killing freedom in Britain.
The facts are correct. The conclusions? I’m not sure I even disagree with them either.
April 15th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
ID cards, National Identity Register, Silicon.com, John Pilger |
3 comments
Terrorism, glorification and Peter Hain
OK, it came into force. As Garry observes, that means it’s now illegal to say nice things about, for example, this guy. In addition, Peter Hain will now have problems writing his memoirs (if/when he finally leaves office), as he’s also guilty of acts now defined as terrorist under laws he voted for.
NuLab changing the electoral rules in Wales - they got it wrong last time, they don’t win
Of course, Hain’s an arse anyway, his current wheeze is an attack on the idea of Regional top-up AMs in Wales. Well, yes Peter, we know they’re a crap idea. We told you that at the time. We said use a system that kept a constituency link, but oh no, NuLab had to adopt a system that (supposedly) gave it the advantage. Create a system, then decide it’s not working, so blame those that were forced to work within it instead of the system itself. Useless terrorist fool. Peter Black has more; he doesn’t like how he was elected, but you do what’s needed, right?
Italy, Berlusconi, cheating and stability
On the subject of Governments changing electoral systems in an attempt to give their own party an advantage, isn’t Italy watching fun? At least, it would be, if the media were actually covering the story properly. The best coverage I’ve found hasn’t been the BBC, nor any boradsheets, but blogs. The media is simply regurgitating cliches, and lying (or, to be charitable, simply not understanding) the way Italians vote. There’s an excellent description, including regional breakdown, here. Silvio tried to rig the system, owns most of the broadcast media, controlled a lot of the rest via the Govt, and still they voted him out (just).
Who would chose a list PR system?
The Italian electoral system, now I’ve read about it, is even more crazy than the Israeli system. It says something when two countries have system that are actually as bad, if not worse, than ours. Or, are they?
I’d have said yes, but look at those turnout numbers in Italy. Everyone voted, everyone took it seriously, it mattered. More parties than I can count, but everyone gets to vote for what they care about. You most certainly can’t say that all Italian politicians are the same. It’s still a daft system, but it does show how the “western malaise” supposedly affectig democracy doesn’t, necessarily, apply. Friend of mine was at a big trade fair show in Bologna over the weekend. Major stall holders were shutting up and leaving early, from their biggest annual event, in order to get home and vote.
Would us Brits bother doing that? The Italian electoral system (especially the new one that Berlusconi created) is unstable, and no one is seriously suggesting it for the UK. Instead, we want a reformed constituency system. I’ve gone on about it before, plenty of times, but Peter Blacks post above gives another good series of reasons why list systems are wrong.
The new Liberal Review, and NLE is moving soon
Life is busy, I’m busy, and light blogging mode is on. New project in the works, we’ll be moving soon, details to follow when I’ve got everything sorted out. In the meantime, on the subject of revamped blogs, take a good look at the new Liberal Review. I’ve been asked to write a bit onconstitutional refor (sorry Rob, swamped), in the meantime, it’s taken onboard the Apollo Project team, and taking guest columns, including a pretty good one from Tim.
G’night all.
Technorati tags:
terrorism,
freedom,
NuLab,
Peter Hain,
Italy,
electoral systems,
PR,
list PR,
Proportional Representation,
Liberal Review,
Berlusconi,
Prodi
April 14th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
NuLab, freedom, Xblogging, PR, admin, terrorism, Peter Hain, Italy, electoral systems, list PR, Proportional Representation, Liberal Review, Berlusconi, Prodi |
no comments
Bastards. I believe, given that the deputy to the sweaty baboon has answered in Parliament that we can renew at any time, that they’d have a hard job of changing the rules now. So the plan to renew next year proceeds apace.
I went to the pub this evening, met up with Chris and also the local No2ID organiser. Get involved. Even if it’s just to give up a morning leafletting instead of shopping. If you can’t see a local organiser? Any reason why you couldn’t get together with friends and become one? This needs to be a campaign on two fronts, one is civil disobediance; renew your passport early, don’t register, refuse to register, get fined, refuse to pay, get headlines and the rest.
The second is electoral. I repeat the earlier statement; at the next General Election, ask every candidate:
If they don’t promise to do so, make sure they’re not elected.
Between now and then? Councils across the country have passed resolutions on the issue. Local elections are coming up in much of the country. Make it an issue. Some people (and I’m one of them) have a bit of a problem with national issues effecting local campaigns. But this really does affect everything.
Big picture? I repeat my call. At the next General election, we’ll need to ensure we have a strong tactical voting campaign against any candidates that refuse to repeal this Act. Other issues, such as Leg/Reg, etc also matter. But this one, to me, is the big one.
We have to get them out.
In the meantime?
Labour members!
There’s still much, much talk of a ‘coronation’. The Labour party has a strong tradition as a democratic party. I’ve voted Labour in the past FFS. Don’t let the give Brown a coronation; make sure there’s a leadership campaign, make NIR an issue.
We cannot (and will not) submit to a database state. To arms my friends, to arms.
April 4th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
freedom, civil liberties, ID cards, National Identity Register, NIR, Passport renewal |
3 comments
Remember when I said this?
on 80% of the issues that matter to me, I’m pretty close to the Lib Dems
Well, some people took that to mean I agreed with the LibDems 80% of the time. Not true. On the ‘big’ issues (is the ones I write about here), the Lib Dems are the most sound. On others? Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear:
April 1st, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
freedom, LibDems, eBay, markets |
7 comments
The bill got passed. We are all to be numbered and categorised. I will not submit. So, we have some heroes, some villains, and some dodgy characters. Heroes
March 30th, 2006
Posted by
MatGB |
NuLab, freedom, Conservatives, civil liberties, ID cards, NO2ID, National Identity Register, nanny state, refuse |
7 comments
