Some excellent news - another astonishing attempt to encroach on our civil liberties has been defeated in the House of Lords - by a majority of 191 votes. This debate has been somewhat overshadowed by the global financial turmoil.
Above - Liberty's newspaper advert published in newspapers in the run-up to the House of Lords vote
The fact that the government sees fit, in so many ways, to throw our long held liberties away is nothing short of a disgrace. The following links give considerable background to the situation. My opinion is that the security services should not be arresting people unless that have enough evidence to charge them with an offence. Don't forget that the last week has seen the application of anti-terrorism laws to Icelandic banks (last I saw there was little or no terrorist activity there); local councils have used anti-terrorism legislation to spy on people; an elderly protester was ejected from the Labour party conference a couple of years ago - using anti-terror regulations. If this is the way the UK continues to go, the terrorists have won. The next encroachment on our liberties and privacy will the the Government's proposal to eavesdrop on our telephone, email and web browsing communications.