29/08/2007 THINK TANK
WHAT WE FEAR
SO WHAT’S BEING DONE TO PROTECT US? A LOT OF THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE, COMPLICATED THINGS LIKE LAWS THAT NONE OF US REALLY UNDERSTAND – WHICH IS A DAMN SIN, AS FAR AS NOTION IS CONCERNED. READ, LEARN AND JUDGE.
THREAT: TERRORISM
WHAT DO WE FEAR?Rampant hordes of bearded, turbaned extremists devastating our beloved national landmarks out of completely irrational loathing for a culture that visited colonialism, war and other things on them.
WHAT’S BEEN DONE?The Terrorism Act (2000) outlawed organizations which promote terrorism and allowed police to stop and search any individual engaged in protest. The Civil Contingencies Act (2004) empoweredgovernment ministers to act without referring to parliament, against anemergency they believe is about to happen. The Home Secretary can issue Control Orders on people he “suspects” are terrorists. The Terrorism Act(2006), meanwhile, allowed terror suspects to be detained for up to 28 days without charge and defined the crime of “glorifying terrorism”. Provisionspassed in non-Terror acts include protests within 1km of Parliament Squarerequiring written permission from the police (SOCPA, 2005). Terrorism isanother justification for ID Cards, the National Identity Register and CCTV.
WORST-CASE SCENARIOAs our interviewee Chakrabarti says: ‘These small measures of increased ferocity add up in time to a completely different society.’ Gulag, Stasi and Gestapo may suggest one, though we might be going a little far. Remember, only common sense reins in a police state now.
WHAT HAVE WE LOST?Potentially, we’ve given up almost every right associated with democracy. By criminalising non-violent expression with the glorification of terrorism, Free Speech is drastically compromised and a precedent is set. Detention and the Civil Contingencies Act all potentially eradicate basic democratic liberties like privacy and freedom of movement at the whim of a minister or police officer, while simultaneously undermining the sovereignty of Parliament designed to represent us. To make it even worse, SOCPA means we’ve can’t retaliate – no law, no parliament and no public debate to protect us...
THREAT: ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND STREET CRIME
WHAT DO WE FEAR? Anything wearing a hoodie – who knows what lurks inside, spitting, swearing, stabbing, drinking and taking drugs, menacing the weak, hosting parties until ungodly hours, environmental damage, prostitution... A good life, eh?
WHAT’S BEEN DONE? The 2003 Anti-Social Behaviour act included updating the infamous ASBOs themselves, Parenting Orders (ASBOs for parents), and Powers of Dispersal for police when two or more people together might commit a crime. Powers of Arrest were changed by SOCPA, while non-convicted arrestees, from kids to drunks, are all entered into the police’s DNA database.
WHAT’S BEEN LOST? ASBOs are often issued against children and the vulnerable, those who could really do with social support networks rather than rope to hang themselves with, should they break the terms of the ASBO and end up in jail. Imagining those power-mad policemen you often encountered as a teen having excessive powers is hardly a pleasing thought, is it?
WORST-CASE SCENARIO Most of us can at times be a little anti-social – imagine if we were all one cock-up away from five years in the slammer...
THREAT: ORGANISED CRIME
WHAT DO WE FEAR? An Italian society – we’re all paying off some gang for protection. Meanwhile, they might steal our identities and give them to immigrants who’ll then steal our jobs and sell drugs and guns to our children, while shooting both each other and us up on the streets, ultimately leaving the few of us cleaning the corpses up. Smelly.
WHAT’S BEEN DONE? The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) made any offence arrestable – this also requires DNA samples,fingerprints and photos even if the arrestee is not convicted, for storage on the national Police DNA Database. The money-scoffing ID Cards and NationalIdentity Register, which will hold 52 pieces of information (and potentially more) about everyone in the UK for more than 3 months. Blair would have liked to “go further...and impose restrictions on those suspected of being involved in organised crime” – just like terror suspects’ Control Orders.
WHAT HAVE WE LOST? Our Privacy. With SOCPA granting the police extensive powers of arrest and requiring that data be recorded whether or not a crime is committed, the Presumption of Innocence as a mainstay of our legal system is pretty much negated. Many fear the DNA data will be used for “fishing trips” to match DNA from old crimes – making everyone a suspect for every unsolved crime ever. We’re none of us innocent.
WORST-CASE SCENARIO Stormtroopers kicking your door down and taking you away in the middle of the night because your DNA has been matched with Jack the Ripper ’s - a clerical error. |
