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The Freedom Agenda
Conservative frontbencher-turned-liberty campaigner David Davis won reelection last week with a thumping majority. The press gave the election scant coverage, preferring to concentrate on a Glasgow East election which could seal the fate of PM Gordon Brown.
Only the left-leaning Independent gave Davis serious leader column treatment, while the BBC ignored his acceptance speech. Curiously, a truncated version of this speech appears on Davis own website. Cranmer publishes the whole thing, which we reproduce here.
"First, may I thank the returning officer, his officials and the police. I would also like to take the opportunity to commend the other parties that contested this election. One of the freedoms I defend is the right of anybody to stand in a democratic election. By and large this has been a courteous and entertaining campaign. I thank everyone for taking part. Four weeks ago, I resigned my position as Shadow Home Secretary, and Member of Parliament. Not for personal gain. Not for political advantage. But to defend a principle. The doubters said it couldn’t be done.
"You can’t win a by-election campaigning for freedom. You can’t shift public support for 42 days.
"You can’t spark a national debate, they said… people just don’t care about British liberty. And yet, 3 weeks on, we’ve sent a shot across the bows of Gordon Brown’s arrogant, arbitrary and authoritarian government. We’ve galvanised a new consensus … across the political spectrum … beyond the world of politics. A new resolve. A new spirit of freedom. A fresh sense of purpose.
Sir Bob On Liberty
Bob Geldof wrote a stunning column for today's Daily Telegraph on the betrayal of British liberties taking place under the current government. Geldof, best known as the man behind Live Aid, has turned his attention to the campaign of David Davis to put a stop to the government's anti-liberty agenda, specifically the 42 day detention act, but, as Geldof writes in his article, the principle can be applied to the entire range of surveillance measures introduced and planned, from ID cards to email and website intercepts.
It's a very welcome intervention, not least because the supposedly Tory press has reserved particular venom for Davis' rebellion, painting him as a dangerous eccentric liable to destroy the opposition's big lead in the opinion polls by "splitting" the party and distracting attention from leader David Cameron. Davis has built up a true cross-party support for his stance, from libertarians like Geldof to old-style Left-wingers like Tony Benn. Yet the best the British press can do is snipe at the man's ambition - for daring to put country before his party!
We're reproducing the entire article below, but do check out the Telegraph, in particular its comments section following Geldof's piece.
Don't let 'Brave New Britain' remove our fundamental rights
Today's by-election in Haltemprice and Howden is not normal. It is extraordinary.
The people there are not being asked to consider the competing policies of government and opposition. They are being asked to think about who we are, what we stand for and whether we will continue to be the country built by previous generations. This is a fight about how much of our liberty the state can remove, before it changes who - and what - we are.
UK Sharia "Vital And Inevitable"
Another top British barrister has called for elements of Islamic Sharia law to be introduced into the UK.
Former chairman of Britain's Bar Council Stephen Hockman QC said last week that "It is vital and inevitable that sharia will become part of British law in some shape or form.
"Given the world situation and our own substantial Muslim population it is vital that we now look at ways to integrate Muslim culture into our own traditions... Otherwise we will find that there is a significant section of our society which is increasingly alienated, with very dangerous results."
Taking The Law Into Your Own Hands
The humiliation of the Rt Hon Gordon Brown, PC, Her Majesty's Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has gathered pace.
Whatever You Say, Say Nothing
Two prominent Londoners found themselves in deep water this weekend after remarks they made to the press were seized upon by critics.
A top political adviser to London's new Mayor, Boris Johnson, was forced to resign after apparently suggesting that elderly African-Caribbean people unhappy with the new Conservative council should leave the country; While novelist Ian McEwan could face "hate crime" charges after telling an Italian newspaper that he hated Islamism.
Outside the media, these statements come under the category "stating the bleedin' obvious."
For Freedom
As another man claimed to have terror links to Osama Bin Laden is released on bail, we wonder how the need to protect Britain from such individuals can be squared with the struggle to protect citizens from illiberal surveillance measures.
There's some good stuff on liberty on David Davis' campaign blog. Warning that his campaign is not just about the 42 days detention act the government squeezed through parliament last week, he says:
"It is about the relentless erosion of our fundamental freedoms over the last eleven years."
France's Smoking Speakeasies
Psst! Want to enjoy a cigarette indoors, in convivial company, in a city that raised smoking to an art form? Paris smokers gasping for fags are opening secret smoking clubs and restaurants in private homes, organising meetings via Facebook and even hiring chefs and DJs to cater for the clandestine crowd.
A Conservative With Principles?
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis has resigned as an MP in protest against the passing of the 42 day "detention without trial" anti-terror law passed last night.
He will fight a by-election in his constituency of Haltemprice and Howden; the Liberal Democrats have indicated they will not contest the seat. Davis said, "Up until yesterday I took the view that what we did in the House of Commons, representing our constituents was a noble endeavour because with centuries of forebears we defended the freedoms of the British people - well we did up until yesterday."
The 42 day detention, he added, was "the most salient example of the insidious, surreptitious and relentless erosion of fundamental British freedoms."
Party leader David Cameron is reportedly unsettled by Davis' move; the pair are said to have had a blazing row over policy on the 42 day issue yesterday. Davis is understood to have said that if the Conservatives win the next election they will bin the law; Cameron says this is not the party's policy.
Why fight the law, if this is the case?
Extremists In Charge
Why does the British government appoint those who take extreme positions to head policy committees? It is perfectly possible to find moderate constitutional experts to lead enquiries into future legislative and social needs: New Labour, however, has a habit of choosing those who can be guaranteed to come up with proposals designed to shake the foundations of the state.
In law, there's Solicitor General Vera Baird QC, who dismisses much of the UK's constitution as "anachronism", over-ripe to be shoved aside by a shiny new Constitutional arrangement. Its medical ethics advisers have called for the body to become state property upon death, allowing organs to be harvested whether the individual and his family agree or not. Other bio-ethics spokesmen take positions at the more extreme end of the debate on human-animal hybrids and genetic research.
And now, the focus turns to education once again. According to the Daily Mail, the government's chief schools adviser Dr John White believes that the school curriculum should be changed to move away from traditional separate subjects and towards projects linked by common themes.
The Possibilities Of The Internet
Gordon Brown delivered two important speeches earlier this month. On May 17, Britain's most famous Son of the Manse delivered a rumination on people power to the Church of Scotland General Assembly; two days later, he hailed the internet industry at the Google Zeitgeist Conference.
The internet was a major theme of both speeches. It's understandable, perhaps, that the PM is keen to draw attention to the internet. On May 15, US broadcaster CBS announced it was buying web publisher CNET for $1.8 billion - one of the few economic bright spots in a six-month spell of gloom and doom. But does Brown have an internet plan, or is he simply using the internet as a convenient metaphor for his vision of the world?
Quote Of The Day II
"When Christians dare to be convicted, they are portrayed as bigots. When they articulate a view with which others may disagree, they are dogmatic. When they fall short of perfection, they are pilloried and cast as hypocrites. When they defend the unborn, they are unenlightened. When they oppose animal-human embryos, they are anti-science. When they express concern over the fatherless, they are homophobic. When they speak up for the poor, they are wishy-washy liberals. When they defend faith-based education, they are intolerant. When they seek to uphold marriage, they are ‘right wing’ reactionaries."
) Archbishop Cranmer on how Labour demonised opponents of embryo research and 24-week abortion. Cranmer reports that deputy leader Harriet Harman acted as an unofficial "whip" to ensure wavering Labour MPs voted to keep abortion at 24 weeks; there are also reports that Harman's "sisterhood" formed an honour guard, funnelling MPs into the no lobby. So much for a free vote.
Failing To Protect Rights, Again
A Muslim convert to Christianity was warned that he and his family would be burnt out of their home by his former co-religionists. When he complained to British police, he was told he should move out and "stop being a crusader."
So much for the Human Rights Act.
Territorial Integrity
Welcome to Manche Zone One
Is England dying the death of 1,000 cuts?
Isn't a government supposed to control national borders? One could be forgiven for thinking that New Labour is allowing the country to fall away, piece by piece. Yesterday we looked at government proposals to surrender a large part of Norfolk to the sea rather than go to the expense of reinforcing sea walls. On St George's Day, the European Union's scheme to divide areas of England up into its "Atlantic Zone" and "Manche Region" along with northwest France raised its ugly head again.
And today, we read that an apparent majority of citizens of the English village of Audlem would prefer to be Welsh!
Happy St George's Day!
England's used to pass without comment. In recent years, however, Britain's largest country by far has seen a surge of patriotic interest. Whether this is due to increased awareness of English identity following devolution in Scotland and Wales; a response to EU federalism; or a reaction to successive decades of anti-English education (or a mixture of all three) could be debated for weeks, but it's undeniable that there's a new spirit abroad in England.
Even the Guardian, the in-house newspaper for those who believe that the flag of St George is flown only by football hooligans and BNP supporters, has dedicated a sympathetic article on how "Englishness is bursting out all over."
Paris And The Revolution
The spirit of 68 isn't dead. Here's a great quote from Agnès Poirier in the Guardian:
"The week we were recording le podtour, during one of those caffeine stops at Le Balzar, two well-known intellectuals, one celebrated publisher and a Sorbonne professor, were discussing Sarkozy's future: "He won't finish his mandate" said one. "How can you be so sure?" asked the other. "Because I've got my finger on two thousand students' pulse" came the answer. Reminded me of a conversation Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre are reported to have had right there, back in 1947. Sartre asked Camus what he would do if France was invaded by the Soviet army. Camus replied: "I resist. You?" Sartre: "I won't shoot proletarians.""
Sartre was a wicked fool, Camus a hero, students and Parisian intellectuals alike are reliable fonts of idiocy. Plus ça change...
Don't miss Mme Poirier's multimedia podcast tour of May 1968's most important sites, then and now.
Police Charge Down's Syndrome Boy With Racist Assault
We've heard it all now: An 18 year old with the mental age of a five year old gets into a scuffle with a similarly disabled woman at a special needs college. As the girl happens to be Asian, the Scottish prosecutor filed a racial assault case. Someone - it is not clear who - went to the length of putting advertisements in the local press calling for witnesses to this "racial assault."
Another Human Rights Failure For Government
A British court has ruled that the government may no longer have any say in when prisoners serving sentences of more than fifteen years can be released.
The Appeal Court ruled that in future, such decisions should be entirely in the hands of the courts, most likely the parole boards.
The case was brought on behalf of an armed robber serving 20 years for false imprisonment, kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap and robbery (plus a further four for escaping fewer than six months after being sent down in 1995).
Chinese Heavies "Posed As Athletes"
The government has revealed that the Chinese "guard of honour" which caused so much controversy in London last week entered the country described as "athletes" on their visa. A government source told The Sun that as part of the official Chinese delegation to London, the men entered under a block visa granted to the party. The Sun's source added that as soon as the men appeared in action, "everyone could tell they were anything but athletes."
London 2012 Welcomes Militias
The antics of the 13-strong Chinese security detail which rampaged through London at the weekend have drawn some belated squirming from the British government.
Labour has been embarrassed by questions from the opposition and human rights groups. David Davis, shadow Home Secretary, said, "Security in London is a matter for the police and security services. Who were this group of individuals? On whose behalf were they acting? Are they, as reported, drawn from the Chinese People's Armed Police? What exactly was their role, jurisdiction and authority in relation to the relay?"
The Home Office has admitted that the men arrived in London on visitors visas, but refused to say if their employer was listed on their application. A police source told the Times that the men "came as part of the (Olympic) package" and that they were told they had no executive powers in London.
Didn't seem that way.
China's Men In Blue
Yesterday, we commented on the sinister Chinese security detail which barged its way through central London "protecting" the Olympic torch as it was carried by British athletes and celebrities.
EURSOC noted that only in Britain would this kind of "private army" be tolerated. It's good to see other news sources picking up on the same story. Lord Sebastian Coe, who Chairs the organising committee for the 2012 London Games, was heard to say that the British authorities should "get rid" of the guards. "They tried to push me out of the way three times" said the former Olympic medallist, "They are horrible... I think they were thugs."
The men were reported as having scuffled with British cops as well as protestors, and even having manhandled those personalities charged with carrying the torch.
Civil liberties groups have remarked on the presence of the Chinese guards.
Incompetence And Ideology
Good to see Simon Heffer giving both barrels to the myth that New Labour is incompetent. It isn't incompetent, he argues: It is malignant.
Of course, EURSOC was first to air the idea that Labour's supposed lack of ideology was a diversion, and that the ten years under Blair saw the most intense period of ideological legislation in recent history. Heffer expands on this theme, laying into the soft excuse that government is merely incompetent:
"When we say, as we should often feel the temptation to do, that the Labour administration that has governed us for the past 11 years is incompetent, we should be aware also that we are saying the following: that, but for its administrative and technical failings, it would have done well.
"I do not believe this to be true. Despite the sheen of reason that Gordon Brown and, before him, Tony Blair and their chums have sought to put on all they do, this Government has had dark motives from the start."
Smoke Doesn't Get In Your Eyes
Not in front of the children
Liverpool is enjoying its stint as Europe's "City of Culture" for 2008. However, there's always someone who wants to undo some of the good work of the organisers. This time, it's anti-smoking group "SmokeFree Liverpool" who want to give films with smoking scenes an 18 adults only certificate.
A Bill Of Rights Written By Social Workers
The government is planning a new Bill of Rights and possibly a written Constitution for Britain. Northern Ireland looks set to be the testing ground for the first draft of the Bill, much as Scotland was used to test the doomed Poll Tax in the 1980s.
The Bill due to be imposed on the people of the Province gives an idea of what Britain's Bill of Rights and Constitution might look like. Unlike the American documents, any British Bill of Rights is unlikely to be drawn up by a brains trust of the great men of the day: Instead, the earliest indications confirm our suspicions that the British Constitution will be written by activist lawyers and social workers.
A British Constitution?
Gordon Brown is thought be pondering a written constitution for Britain. It couldn't come at a worse time
In February, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said that he would like to see a written constitution for Britain within the next two decades.
On the face of it, a written constitution for the UK sounds like a good idea. It would, advocates believe, finally codify the sometimes messy "unwritten constitution" which has governed Britain since time immemorial. It would act as a "land grab", securing for eternity numerous inalienable rights which future, less enlightened governments and populations might be tempted to vote away. It would present lawmakers with the opportunity to lay out once and for all the ideal relationship between the House of Commons, the upper house (in whatever form it might take), the courts, the Monarchy and the clergy (currently the established Church of England; in future, who knows?).
Naturally, many advocates of a written Constitution might use the drafting process as a means of reforming certain anachronisms they deem unsuitable for a modern state, or "hub of ideas" - the role of the Monarchy, for one, perhaps disestablishing the Church.
Attack On Property Rights
A British MP's latest wheeze aimed at inconveniencing the "super-rich" is dressed up as a means of safeguarding rural homes for key workers.
Second home owners in picturesque corners of Britain have become the latest targets of London's ire (along with "middle class wine drinkers"). Even modest properties in some parts of Devon and Cornwall easily reach the £500,000 mark, putting them well out of the reach of local teachers and tradesmen.
Surveillance Societies
Email intercepts, spy drones buzzing over housing estates, wire taps leaked to journalists... it sounds like a science fiction dystopia: Welcome to Europe 2008, home of what German protestors are calling Stasi 2.0.
Vampire Cameras Target Lone Drivers
Eastern Europe 1950s... Britain 2008
Now here's one even Orwell didn't dream up for 1984: Authorities are investing in cameras designed to sniff out blood in order to ensure drivers are not abusing "car-sharing" lanes by driving alone.
Asset Stripping
British government announces plans to seize assets belonging to suspected drug dealers on arrest
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith revealed the latest government encroachment on British civil liberties in her "Ten Year Plan" on drug crime. Suspected drug dealers will have "high value assets" such as cars and jewellery confiscated on their arrest to prevent the accused from "dispersing" their assets when on trial.
Licence To Smoke
Just when you thought the War on Smoking couldn't get any weirder. A government health advisory body, Health England, has proposed that smokers be forced to apply for an annual £10 permit before being allowed to buy cigarettes.
The body's chairman, Professor Julian Le Grand, said that the process of getting a permit should be made as irritatingly complex as possible in order to deter smokers from applying for their fix.
Something To Get Your Teeth Into
Britain's Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson announced last week a new push to add fluoride to drinking water. It's a matter which provokes strong emotion, with some dentists and government workers pointing to ranks of gleaming-gnashered children in regions where the water has been fluoridated for years, while others point to evidence that it can cause mottling of teeth, or even that the Nazis used the substance to pacify inmates of concentration camps.
Something Smells Rotten In The State Of France
Another unforeseen outcome of France's smoking ban. That blue haze of cigarette smoke didn't just add to the atmosphere of the nightclubs of Paris - it kept them smelling good, too.
Respecting British Culture
Defending Britain's tolerant Christian tradition can be a thankless task. Newspapers rarely publish positive stories about Christianity and reporting the latest events can quickly become a weary recital of a litany of wrongs against these islands' traditions.
The Lives Of Others
Is Britain on the road to becoming a police state? Simon Jenkins makes his case in the Guardian.
Dishonour In The Community
"You might as well be in rural Kashmir"
Check out this story in the Telegraph about how entire communities are alleged to be covering up and assisting in honour killings and other violence in Britain.
A report by the Centre for Social Cohesion claims that "informal networks of taxi drivers, councillors and sometimes even police officers track down and return women who try to escape."
Smoking Ban Hits Bar Takings
A month into France's smoking ban and bar and disco owners are complaining about a severe drop in their income.
Smoke Screen
Smoke gets in your eyes but not in Bollywood - if the government of India gets its way.
A world-wide 'Don't Smoke' campaign (in various guises) has spread to India. The campaign is as insidious as smoking itself.
Beating The Smoking Ban In France & Germany
When France introduced a nationwide ban on smoking in public places on 2 January most people took it in their stride.
Less that a month later the mood is different in Paris and other French cities. Displeasure is a polite term for the current attitude.
Brave New Labour
Britain's government isn't content with controlling its citizens' lives while they're walking the earth: Recent reports suggest it is extending its authority into the womb and after death.
The Catholic Church famously argues that life begins at the moment of conception and kindly makes provision to welcome the faithful on their arrival in the afterlife. In mimicry of this successful model, New Labour has laid out recommendations and requirements for families expecting children, and has revealed plans to take possession of bodies after death.
Donut Tax
So speed cameras and radar traps to catch unwary drivers do have a purpose. Thanks to William P. for sending the photo. Anyone know where it came from?
The Fight For Freedom
We sceptics at EURSOC don't use words like "heroic" often. In the case of Ezra Levant, we'll make an exception. A couple of years ago, Levant published the famous Danish illustrations of Mohammed (which sparked the cartoon jihad) in his Canadian newspaper the Western Standard.
A Saudi-trained iman, who has called for sharia law to be introduced in Canada, complained to a "human rights officer". Levant was called in for interrogation. After negotiating that the session be filmed - and republishing the cartoons, this time on his weblog - Levant attended the hearing last Friday. He was clearly determined to use his interrogation to address some broader issues. Don't miss his response to the accusation that Muslims feel particular under attack since 9/11 - the only house of religion to be torched since then was Levant's own synagogue, attacked by a Jordanian fanatic!
We recommend you watch the entire series, broadcast on Levant's blog. Here's his introduction:
Extremism On Trial
From the Guardian:
"A group of women whose relatives were killed in the Beslan school siege are to go on trial in Russia today after they accused President Vladimir Putin of complicity in the deaths.
You Are Being Watched
What better way to start the year than news that both Britain and the USA have been named endemic surveillance societies by rights watchdog Privacy International.
Fighting Big Brother
EURSOC has argued for some time that the British government has been equipping itself with the means to create a police state. The removal of ancient freedoms, the unprecedented level and surveillance and the introduction of new forms of hate speech laws may not, taken individually, plunge us into a 1984 nightmare. The current government under Gordon "McBean" Brown is more clownish than sinister. However, since worrying systems of control and thought crimes have been put into place, it is increasingly possible for some future leader to "flick the switch"
Kidnaps And Extraditions
Wonder if any legal-minded readers can shed some light on this one?
According to a report in the Sunday Times, "A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it."
An Army Of Big Brothers
Following on from the latest British cock-up, when a CD containing the personal and financial details of 25m people was "lost in the post", The Independent has a look at some of the many government agencies which hold similar information on citizens.
Remember, these people think that introducing an ID card system is a worthwhile measure.
Smothering The Blogs?
From Italian blogger Beppe Grillo, via Iain Dale:
"Ricardo Franco Levi, Prodi’s right hand man , undersecretary to the President of the Council, has written the text to put a stopper in the mouth of the Internet. The draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers on 12 October. No Minister dissociated themselves from it. On gagging information, very quietly, these are all in agreement.
"The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money. Blogs are being born every second, anyone can start one without a problem and they can write their thoughts, publish photos and videos. In fact, the route proposed by Levi limits access to the Internet."
Tiny Spies In The Sky?
Ever get the feeling you're being watched?
Anti-war protestors claim that the US government has developed flying robot insect spy cameras to keep an eye on their antics.
The Telegraph reports on complaints by protestors attending rallies in New York and Washington who claim to have been buzzed by dragonfly-like creatures.
Students clash at Tehran university
Iran's president faces unprecedented criticism during a visit to a Tehran university
Make Their Pips Squeak, Darling
"gottle o geer"
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer expected to take on the "super rich"
As Britain's finance minister, Alastair Darling has a tough act to follow. The previous occupant of his office was one Gordon Brown, who spent ten years as the nation's longest-serving and most powerful Chancellor. Despite the fact that Brown is now ensconced in the Prime Minister's office, Britain's finance ministry is inextricably associated with the former Chancellor, whose bulky shadow casts a long pall over the efforts of his successor.
Brown spent ten years dodging left-wing calls to tax Private Equity firms and the non-domiciled "super rich" who have made London their base. But as Darling's first pre-Budget report is released today, it is widely rumoured that Brown's government will target the very wealthy.
It Is Broken: Let's Fix It
Here's something we missed first time round, but it's still current. In early September, Peter Hitchens wrote a piece for his Mail on Sunday Blog which amounted to a manifesto of sorts.
He gives a long and familiar litany of the problems facing Britain today. Tension from overcrowded cities; a breakdown in the social and family order, bringing crime to the streets; indiscipline in schools, compounded by flawed teaching methods; dependency, high taxes; the fact that the majority of British laws emanate from the European Union; an intolerance of any form of debate - even the Conservative opposition seem to favour the status quo.
The Happy Hookah
Islamic exceptions for smoking and alcohol
EURSOC suggested back in June that if you wanted to beat Britain's smoking ban, you should open a hookah bar. Owners of London's many hookah bars were reported to be looking into special pleading for their unique cultural heritage to escape the ban on smoking in public spaces, including bars.
They are likely to be cheered by news from Vancouver, where it has emerged that "city council members bowed to arguments that hookah lounges provide an important cultural space for the city's Muslims and granted them a temporary exemption."
The People's Charter
Following news that a copy of the historic Magna Carta is going under the hammer at Sotheby's in December, the Daily Mail's Peter Oborne suggests it's time Britain had a new charter of rights.
Pulling The Plug
The plug has been pulled on several British blogs following a letter from one of London's top law firms to their web hosting company. The blogs - by Tim Ireland and former Ambassador to Uzbekhistan Craig Murray - had posted remarks about the Russian/Uzbekh billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, who is trying to buy Arsenal FC.
Give An Inch, Take A Mile
Commissioner attacks British press as EU announces it will not pursue "abolition" of imperial measurements
The European Commission has confirmed that it has abandoned its demand that Britain phase out its system of weights and measures within the next three years. Newspapers are describing the change of direction as a victory for Britain's "metric martyrs" - a group of traders who risked criminal convictions for their refusal to trade in metric measures.
New Privacy Concerns
Two new privacy concerns from wildly different sources today. First, there was outcry after a senior judge remarked that every Briton and all visitors to the country should have their DNA details collected and added to a database. Then, news that fast-growing social networking site Facebook plans to make the details of its users available to search engines and non-registered users.
Fines For Baggy Trousers
Several US towns appear to be seriously considering laws to ban the wearing of trousers which reveal the wearer's undergarments.
First on the "Twinned with Kabul" list is Delcambre, Louisiana (pop 2,321) where since June 11, "saggy pants" have been against the law. Anyone wearing their trousers low enough to expose their underwear can face a $500 fine or six months behind bars.
Doing It For The Kids
A new register of every child in England excludes the offspring of "prominent celebrities
Next year sees the launch of ContactPoint, a database containing the address, school details and medical records of England's under-18s. It will give details of their carers, any health professionals they might have visited and, according to a report in the Times earlier this wek, could indicate if the child has undergone a "formal assessment" on whether or not he "needs extra help."
Up to 330,000 vetted users will be allowed to access the database.
The Rights Issue
Well, it took them a few days, but the British press has finally scented the truth about the Learco Chindamo case. In reality, there is little that the nation's press, people or politicians can do about cases which fall under European legislation; and that the government's haste to keep the hearing findings from the public reflect a desire to cover that uncomfortable truth, as calls for a referendum on the EU treaty grow louder.
For those outside the UK, the case centres on a 26 year old immigrant from Italy, Learco Chindamo. Twelve years ago, Chindamo led a gang of murderous thugs who stabbed to death Philip Lawrence, a London headmaster. Their victim had intervened when they were threatening one of the headmaster's pupils. Chindamo was sentenced to life; he is likely to be released next year.
Mr Lawrence's widow expected - and, it appears, had been given assurances that this would be the case - that Chindamo would be deported after his release. Chindamo's lawyers argued successfully that, deporting him to a country where he had not lived for 20 years and where he has no family would deprive him of the right to family life, which is protected by the Human Rights Act. The media and most of the public have rightly taken Mrs Lawrence's side; spokesmen for Britain's human rights industry have argued that while the feelings of the victim and the revulsion of the public are taken into account in sentencing, they do not form the basis of a justice system which is based on the rehabilitation of offenders.
The Rights Stuff
Two versions of a run-in with the European Convention of Human Rights made the headlines in Britain earlier this week.
In one, a Hindu group successfully sued to prevent the slaughter of Shambo, a six year old cow infected with bovine tuberculosis. It is British veterinary practice to kill animals carrying this disease because of the threat it can pose to public and animal health; the organisation argued that because the animal was sacred to them, killing it would interfere with their right to manifest their religious beliefs.
Quote Of The Day II
One to think about as an increasingly bewildered Britain discusses the European Convention on Human Rights and its incorporation into UK law via the Human Rights Act of 1998:
"The candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government upon vital questions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties, in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide cases properly brought before them; and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes."
Hmm. From Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address.
Piglet Rustlers Feel EU Heat
Remember we signed up to the EU's fast track extradition and arrest warrant thanks to a government campaign telling us that terror suspects would no longer be able to hide out in other European nations?
As ever with the EU, we were led to believe that the new warrants were nothing to worry about: Islamist terrorists hiding out in London could be booted out to Paris to face trial, while British crooks on Spain's Costa del Crime would face speedy extradition to face the music back home. Pity, then, that it has been revealed that this high-powered treaty has been invoked to arrest a suspect accused of stealing a piglet. Another warrant was issued for the cross-border theft of two car tyres, and a third for a driver suspected of drunk driving, but not of being wildly over the limit.
UK Challenges Deportation Ban
Following on from yesterday's call for a closer look at the Human Rights Act, the British government is looking at means of challenging a European Court judgement preventing it from expelling dangerous foreigners.
Smoke-on-Trent
Smokers who still fancy a puff in a bar or restaurant should move to Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, where an administrative blunder means that the July 1 smoking ban was not introduced alongside the rest of England and Wales.
Hiding Behind The Human Rights Act
The government invokes the European Convention on Human Rights to explain why foreign terrorists cannot be detained or expelled. Is this really the case?
Britain has come under attack from three different species of Islamist terrorist in two years. First, the home-grown Yorkshire Lads, whose families spoke of their love of cricket and fish & chips - and who blew themselves up along with 50 others in London two years ago. A fortnight later, another batch had their chance: The four men who tried to cause similar slaughter and have just been sentenced to life imprisonment were migrants from the war-torn nations of Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. All four entered the UK seeking escape from their troubled homelands; all four were taken in, housed and cared for by the people they later tried to murder.
Then, just two weeks ago, comes a third type: Educated middle-class professionals from Iran and Palestine working as doctors in Britain's National Health Service, while plotting al-Qaeda-inspired mass murder in London and Glasgow.
And these, we are told, are the tip of the iceberg. The police are said to be monitoring 200 suspected terrorist cells. Doubtless some are British-born terrorists, but numerous others are migrants or those who have come to Britain seeking asylum. When newspapers and opposition MPs call for the deportation or imprisonment of these terrorists, the government points to activist lawyers in the courts and shrugs its collective shoulders: "We can't deport them to places where they face imprisonment and torture: It's against the Human Rights Act."
Smoking: Two Million Votes Up For Grabs
Nazi anti-smoking propaganda
Here is a simple way for the Tories to take two million easy votes. It doesn’t need a two year policy study and it doesn’t require breaking David Cameron’s self-imposed taboo on Europe, immigration, taxes, security and all the rest.
Furthermore it is about ‘choice’ and freedom, Cameron’s current favourite subjects.
Twelve million people smoke: that’s something like a third of Britain’s adult population. Now even if a majority of these, according to the government, are in favour of
of the smoking ban, that still leaves a large bloc seething with resentment at the draconian intrusion into their personal lives.
The Immigration Game
Sarkozy cracks down, Dutch grant amnesty, Brussels wants governments to loosen rules for EU workers
Immigration is in the headlines again in Europe today, as two new governments outline very different policies to deal with the influx of people into western Europe.
In the Netherlands, the parliament voted to overturn former immigration minister Rita Verdonk's policy that 30,000 illegal immigrants who arrived in the country before 2001 be deported.
Where Are The Awkward Squad?
British artist David Hockney has railed against the smoking ban set to come into force in England in July. Speaking at an exhibition of watercolours by JWM Turner which he has curated, Hockney listed distinguished artists and smokers who "didn't have dreary people telling them what to do."
An Englishman's Cellar Is His Castle
British Conservative MP Boris Johnson was horrified to discover that Britain is considering printing health warnings on bottles of wine. A fiendish Brussels plot, he thought, preparing to write a furious column for the Telegraph.
However, some rudimentary research (a call to the EU Health commission) revealed that the idea originated not in the bowels of Brussels, but in Britain's own health ministry. Boris nearly choked on his Chambertin.
Registers & Deportations
Human rights groups attack French expulsions policy; UK warns terrorists they will be put on a "register"
Two different approaches to the problem of terror supporters in the papers today. The IHT reports that Human Rights Watch is unhappy with how France boots out troublesome preachers, who may face torture in their home countries. Meanwhile in Britain, terrorists will doubtless be trembling in their boots to hear that anyone found guilty of a terrorist act or a terrorist-related offence will be put on a special register.
Nanny Out Of The Dining Room
Yes! Hot on the heels of the government's scheme to target "middle class wine drinkers", Sarah Vine has a spot-on rant:
"The pernicious new Puritanism (is) slowly squeezing the life and soul out of Britain. Ye gods, as my grandmother used to say, almost all the middle classes have left is their glass of wine in the evening. That bottle of organic Pech-Latt (£6.49 from Ocado, very reasonable and actually extremely drinkable) is the equivalent of the 19th-century factory worker’s shot of gin. Because let’s face it, this Government is doing its best to make our lives about as miserable as any pox-raddled Hogarthian whore’s. Utter the word “middle class” in Whitehall and watch their greedy little pimps’ eyes light up with pound signs. Behold the British middle-classes – a docile, law-abiding army of tax slaves. Hurrah, let’s blow it all on some more social workers in Newcastle."
Cover Up Or Die
Women working on a Palestinian television station have been warned that they risk being beheaded if they do not wear strict Islamic dress, the Telegraph and The Times report.
Bring Me Your Poor, Huddled Smokers
The Observer reports that the European Union is considering a proposal to ban smokers from gathering outdoors to enjoy a puff. A paper viewed by the newspaper says, "as well as a ban on lighting up in all workplaces and public buildings across Europe: 'Restrictions could also be extended to outdoor areas around entrances to buildings and possibly to other outdoor public places where people sit or stand in immediate proximity to each other, such as open air stadiums and entertainment venues, bus shelters, train platforms etc.'"
The Academies Close
Britain's university lecturers chose an unfortunate day to announce their proposed boycott of all things Israeli. As members of the University College Union voted 158-99 for "a comprehensive and consistent boycott of all Israeli academic institutions", news came in from The Guardian that Iran's powerful intelligence agency had warned Iranian academics that if they maintain links with foreign institutions, they will be viewed as potential spies.
Malaysia Edges Towards Islamic Law
Malaysia's highest court yesterday refused to recognise a Muslim woman's conversion to Christianity, ruling that the country's secular courts were not able to deal with the matter, and that her case be heard by the religious authorities instead.
The ruling is being seen as a defeat for secularism in the Asian nation, where an estimated sixty percent of the population is Muslim.
EU Criminalises Racial Hatred
European Union interior ministers are accused of creating 'Thought Crimes' by agreeing that incitement to racial hatred merits status as an EU-wide crime.
Big Brother Britain
Two versions of Britain's surveillance society from different ends of the political spectrum. In the Guardian, Steve Boggan writes of a "chilling assault on our privacy", warning that Britons risk being tracked from birth to death. Boggan is concerned with the threat to civil liberties posed by government snooping.
On Multiculturalism
A couple of essays on Multiculturalism and its failures. The first, from French thinker Pascal Bruckner (via No Pasaran. full text here, also available in French.
Bruckner attacks the Western fetishisation of relativism and recent condemnation by liberal writers of Muslim dissident Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It's all astonishingly quotable: Here is a key paragraph:
"Anglo-Saxon multiculturalism is perhaps nothing other than a legal apartheid, accompanied - as is so often the case - by the saccarine cajolery of the rich who explain to the poor that money doesn't guarantee happiness. We bear the burdens of liberty, of self-invention, of sexual equality; you have the joys of archaism, of abuse as ancestral custom, of sacred prescriptions, forced marriage, the headscarf and polygamy. The members of these minorities are put under a preservation order, protected from the fanaticism of the Enlightenment and the 'calamities' of progress."
The second, by historian Francis Fukuyama, appeared in Prospect Magazine earlier this month.
Watching You, Watching Everyone
Privacy body condemns huge number of email and phone taps
European nations appear to be trying to outdo one another in a bid to become the west's most surveillance-obsessed societies. Last week, we reported on how the Germans and Dutch were planning new limits on email and mobile phone use. Today, however, the Times reveals that Big Brother Britain is leading the way, with intelligence and law enforcement bodies making a whopping 439,000 requests to probe phone calls and emails in just over a year.
Tightening The Net
Google caves into China - again. Meanwhile, some European Union countries propose even tougher monitoring of internet and email use
Google has removed a graphic which purports to show the trail of debris left by last month's anti-satellite missile test, in an apparent bow to Chinese demands for censorship of the Internet.
The graphic, produced by three researchers at MIT, tracks debris from the targeted weather satellite to give an idea of the missile's, and thus China's capacity for surface to space attacks: "We find that not only can China threaten low-Earth orbit satellites but, by mounting the same interceptor on one of its rockets capable of lofting a satellite into geostationary orbit, all of the U.S. communications satellites.", said one of the researchers.
Google, previously criticised for complying with China's demands for software-based censorship, removed the image from its search.
You'd think you would be safe from that kind of state interference in freedom-loving Europe, wouldn't you? Well, if the governments of some European nations have their way, you'd be wrong.
Germany's Ministry of Justice is proposing laws that would make it illegal to create email accounts with fake information - thus ruling out pseudonymous accounts.
EU Wants To Jail Polluters
EU Commission hopes public sentiment on environment will allow power grab on international law
The European Commission is seeking Europe-wide legislation and sentencing powers against individuals and companies found guilty of committing crimes against the environment.
According to the Independent, nine new laws are on the table, including "illegal treatment or shipment of waste, discharge of dangerous substances into the air, soil or ground or unlawful possession of protected wild plants and animals. Other crimes would include causing drastic deterioration of a protected habitat and unlawful trade in ozone-depleting substances."
Several countries, including Britain, have expressed unease over the proposals, which could see the introduction of one to ten-year jail terms and fines of up to €1.5 million for "green crimes" committed anywhere in Europe. However, commissioner for justice and home affairs Franco Frattini believes that polls indicating rising public concern over environmental degradation can be translated into new powers for the EU.
You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to imagine that there must be teams of EU lawyers and federalists watching the polls, awaiting the "tipping point" in public sentiment when the suggestion that some issues might be better dealt with on an EU-wide level can be safely mooted.
The terrorist threat was one; immigration is another. Now it's the environment. What next?
French Resistance Goes Up In Smoke
France's new anti-smoking taskforce
As of last week, a legion of 175,000 'cigarette police' have been deployed in France to fine citizens having a fag in a 'public place'. Offenders who smoke in what is defined as an enclosed space face a penalty of 68 euros (£46).
The overall situation on the law and its application is, however, slightly confused. So far, it is understood that smokers may puff away in designated areas in cafes, bars and restaurants. But the authorities have not made it fully clear that this smoking amnesty, or period of grace, expires at midnight on the 31 December 2007.
According to France's TF1 TV channel, there are some doubts as to the legal basis of this interdiction. To make it as clear as possible, the smoking order is a government decree or "ministerial circular", not an act of parliament.
One might say it is truly a case of smoke and mirrors.
English Reclaim Ancient Salvage Rights
A multitude of people stormed onto a Devon beach and claimed the ancient law of the people's right to wreckage that lands on their shores, sometimes known as "wreckers'" rights.
Biggest Brother
Even George Orwell could not imagine a Big Brother on this scale.
A giant database of people's personal details is to be created by the British government. The official explanation is that it will help "improve" public services.
Browned Off
Gordon Brown’s defence of the Union of the UK would be laughable if it were not so sad
Having jointly presided over 10 years of the systematic dismantling of Britain’s historic institutions, Brown is trying to paint himself as a champion of the Union and of Britain.
As usual for New Labour, the reasons are motivated purely by self-interest and power.
You Can Dance If You Want To
An antifascist demonstration has been organised for today's performance of Giselle by English National Ballet principal Simone Clarke - her first since being "outed" as a member of the far-right British National Party.
Fear Of Flying
There is no need to be concerned about taking off your shoes or your jacket or giving over your hand bag for inspection if you travel from Britain to the United States.
These procedures have become perfunctory.
Think, now, about whether authorities have a right to your credit card details, transactions, airline travel destinations and e-mail mesages and much more.
Student Protests In Iran
A group of Tehran students burned images of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as groups of Holocaust deniers, Ku Klux Klansmen and anti-Semitic fanatics gathered to "revise" what the Iranian president describes as "the myth" of the Holocaust.
It's An Unfair Cop
It's tough being a copper these days. There are the usual problems of rape, domestic violence, robbery and, of course, keeping an eye on the threat of terrorism.
But the London Metropolitan Police have added a new priority.
They will swoop on your traditional office Christmas party. According to the Daily Mail, the boss might be sued for letting staff drink too much.
China Syndrome
Hope this doesn't give Alastair Campbell and his goons any ideas. The Chinese authorities are considering forcing web users to give their real names and ID card numbers when they open a blog. The BBC reports that the repressive regime worries that anonymous bloggers are spreading "libel and slander" - and adds that bloggers who do "nothing illegal or harmful to the public" have nothing to fear from the measures...
British Airways Unrepentant
British Airways have been forced into an embarrassing climb-down over the suspension of one of its employees, Nadia Eweida, who refused to remove her cross in the face of her employers' biased policies on symbols of faith and uniforms.
Sharia In Britain
The Telegraph has an interesting report on how sharia law is increasingly used by British Muslim communities instead of the "formal" legal system.
Women In Black
The burqa debate continues. As the Economist noted this weekend, you are what you wear. Some younger members of western society prefer frayed baggy jeans, a t-shirt with a slogan and a New York-style baseball cap turned in the wrong direction. Their grandfathers, depending on their milieu, go for corduroy trousers, a worse-for-wear cardigan and a tweed cap.
The corollary of people expressing themselves either consciously or otherwise through their clothing is that you can often tell how diverse and tolerant a society is by the variety of different costumes on the streets. This goes, even if what some people wear seems deliberately styled to provoke a reaction in others.
The Fingerprint File
Not so very long ago, if you happened to be stopped by a police officer, depending on the circumstances, you would be asked for your driver number. No passport or ID card (They do not exist in the UK for the moment.)
The right to enquire was delineated by strict legal criteria.
No longer.
Spooks Working Overtime
Britain's counter-espionage field officers are working double-shifts these days. The secret security service, better known as MI5, have their official HQ at Millbank, not far along the Thames from the Houses of Parliament.
Their Secret Intelligence Service counterpart, MI6, is across the river, opposite the Tate Gallery at Vauxhall Cross.
But the real work today, some would say, is conducted by MI5 - Although rival MI6 might disagree.
Not Hounded Out
The Guardian has a surprisingly balanced account of how England's fox hunters are getting round the ban parliament introduced 18 months ago.
By "balanced", we mean the reporter speaks to both sides and treats the hunting fraternity with respect, even riding with a hunt at one stage. Wonder why this issue has become suitable for even-handedness, after decades of being an emotive hot spot for Guardian's class warriors?
Don't be too disappointed, though. The reporter admits, at the end, that he doesn't have the stomach to watch a fox at the kill. He signs off with a recommendation that perhaps parliamentarians who spent 700 hours debating the hunting ban but only seven hours debating the invasion of Iraq might make more suitable prey.
1956
Olivier Kamm has an excellent post on the Hungarian uprising. Here's a key quote:
"The Soviet ambassador to Budapest, Yuri Andropov, urged unrelenting bombardment of the city, after which Soviet troops turned artillery fire not only on the barricades but on residential areas. To those who resisted, I extend my admiration and respect."
Also check out Adam LeBor in The Times.
Iran Blocks Broadband
What about a Made For Iran initiative?
The EU is not alone in looking at ways to regulate technology it doesn't approve of: Iran, too, hopes to stem dissenting voices, this time by taking the drastic step of banning high-speed internet connections.
Video Blogs Come Under EU's Eye
Here's one in the eye for free speech from the EU's Big Brother department: The EU wants to extend its broadcasting regulations to cover internet broadcasts such as YouTube and video blogs.
According to The Times, the proposal "would require websites and mobile phone services that feature video images to conform to standards laid down in Brussels."
Tommy
Rudyard Kipling
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer, ? The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." ? The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, ? I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; ? But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play, ? The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, ? O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.
Britain Is A Christian Country
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the 2001 census figures shows that 71.8 per cent of people living in Britain describe themselves as Christian.
In other words an enormous majority of Britons are Christians.
This may come as a shock as we are permanently fed the idea that Christianity as a national faith is a thing of the past in this multi-faith modern country and in terminal decline.
"Simple, Speedy, Summary"
Britain is planning "simple, speedy and summary justice" for criminals, with proposals that the authorities hope will save the expense of putting thousands of cases through court. According to a report in The Times, police will be able to impose fines of up to £100 on hoodlums who will later be able to contest the penalty.
There Goes Another Veto
Reports this morning appear to confirm yesterday's rumour that Britain was preparing to surrender its EU veto on policing and judicial matters.
Time For Tubby Bye-Bye
Britain's growing surveillance society has taken another twist. Not content with CCTV cameras on every street corner recording citizens' every move, the town of Middlesborough has fitted some of its cameras with loudspeakers, so wrongdoers can be dressed down publicly as they indulge in anti-social behaviour.
Stubbing Out Smokers
Here's one that might have slipped under your radar this summer: The European Commission says its OK for a company to refuse to hire smokers.
Shop A Smoker
The government plans a "Shop a Smoker" telephone hotline to ensure people in England are observing the smoking ban, which comes into force next summer.
The River In Londonistan
Enoch Powell (1912-1998) was probably the most controversial British politican of the past fifty years. In 1968, he made a speech which sealed his reputation as a prophet of the anti-immigrant extreme right - and a bogeyman for all shades of respectable opinion, from embarrassed centrists on his own Tory party to the broad left.
Britain To Close Doors
Workers from Romania and Bulgaria may not be granted automatic access to Britain's labour market, a government spokesman has declared. The minister was responding to claims from opposition Conservatives that the government had hugely underestimated the number of immigrants from central European states, who now number around 600,000.
Burkhas For Beer Bellies?
Well, the heat does do strange things to our brains. Among the strangest is the urge it inspires among British men of a certain age to go about their business, dressed only in the skimpiest shorts, beer bellies and man-boobs on display for the world to see.
One of the least pleasant views on Britain's sceptered isle. But stranger still is the mentality of some politicians who hope to slap a ban on these inflated exhibitionists, hoping to use local laws to slap anti-social behaviour orders on men who parade their pot bellies on hot days.
Crime And Punishment
Britain's government "is more concerned that young men should not smoke cigarettes in prison or make silly jokes to policemen than that they should not attack and permanently maim their elders and betters", writes Theodore Dalrymple in The City Journal. Horrifying stuff from what's becoming an increasingly crazy country.
Wake Me When It's Over
One of most common slogans chanted by protesting students in recent weeks was "rêve générale" - general dream. Part contemporary situationist slogan, part play on words on the ritual trade union warcry of "greve generale" - general strike - it says rather a lot about how the students and their supporters see the world.
Nanny Knows Best
Don't worry. Nanny is looking after you. The 'Nanny State' has awoken after a short nap.
Back To School
Not all France's students are blockading schools and marching against labour reform. Some actually want to work - and accept that some change is necessary if France is to face up to the future. The Independent has a column from one such student, who says the French education system is in a bad enough condition without the added problem of strikers preventing other students from working:
"When politicians talk about youth unemployment, they should ask themselves why does France need 65,000 psychology students - a quarter of Europe's total student number in that subject? What use is training to become a sports teacher when 45,000 other people graduate with the same degree and there are only 400 job openings per year?"
The bad news for France - which desperately needs dissenting voices like this - is that the author is moving abroad next term. "I've had enough of France and its peculiar brand of 'excellence'," she writes. France's loss.
Breaking Up Is So Very Hard To Do...
Pity poor old David Cameron. During his campaign for Tory party leadership, he made one solid pledge: To pull Britain's Conservatives out of the clutches of the European Parliament's ultra-federalist EPP grouping.
The Internet War
Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt has made an impassioned plea to the EU to rethink its position on opposing US regulation of the internet.
Still Supporting These People?
Here's Mahmoud Zahar, the most senior leader of