Is UK Becoming a Big Brother State?
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According to Dame Stella Rimington, the first woman director general of MI5, now retired, it is. As the Home Office in Britain is gearing to increase state surveillance of individuals in every possible manner, including giving the police powers to monitor emails, telephone activity and internet usage of individuals, there is danger of personal privacy being eroded.
She warned in an interview the government was “frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties,” and went on to say that this was “precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state.”
The unfortunate aspect is that the anti-terrorism laws, which are meant to protect people against terrorist activities, actually help the police, the security services and the home office to snoop on people for unrelated and innocuous offences like even dog fouling. We reported on this site a while back how the local councils were abusing power granted to them to carry out petty surveillance such as sending people with spy cams to make sure dog owners were picking up their dog’s waste, inserting surveillance equipment in wate bins, etc.
Arthur Chaskelson, the chairman of the report panel of the International Commission of Jurists, said: “The failure of states to comply with their legal duties is creating a dangerous situation wherein terrorism, and the fear of terrorism, are undermining basic principles of international human rights law
Not only Britain but also other countries around the world are using stringent anti-terrorism laws to curb the civil liberties of the general populace. While terrorist activities need to be checked, the rights and liberties of innocent people also need to be protected. We don’t want to live in a state where we are constantly looking over our shoulder, wondering if big brother is watching us!
It seems like it’s a fine balance to strike, though. People want the extra protection against possible threat of terrorism but also do not want their rights taken away and not have their every move monitoresd with the imposition of things like CCTV cameras everywhere. Well, they are right not to have their liberties encroached, but they have to accept it is will be almost impossible to provide the extra necessary protection without some give. This is where the government has to be sensible and not act on a whim and follow things through thoroughly. More on this story
