R (on the application of Chester) v SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE and another
THE QUEEN ON THE APPLICATION OF CHESTER
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Norfolk Taliban Turkey Trussed up in time for Xmas
Norfolk Taliban Turkey Trussed up in time for Xmas
"Liz Truss has survived the deselection attempt by some members of the South West Norfolk Conservative Association. My sources suggest she won the vote by 132 votes to 37.
I trust this draws a line under the sorry saga of the last three weeks and that the association will now unite behind Liz Truss as she prepares to fight the seat at the general election.
Jonathan Isaby"
Truss me I'm unfaithful...
"Liz Truss has survived the deselection attempt by some members of the South West Norfolk Conservative Association. My sources suggest she won the vote by 132 votes to 37.
I trust this draws a line under the sorry saga of the last three weeks and that the association will now unite behind Liz Truss as she prepares to fight the seat at the general election.
Jonathan Isaby"
Truss me I'm unfaithful...
Gospel according to Nick Robinson
Gospel according to Nick Robinson
The fighters' view
• We won the Glasgow by-election with almost 60% of the vote - so much for the talk of the SNP sweeping through Scotland
• The Tories are struggling to stay above 40% in the polls, whereas in 1996 Labour was often above 50%
• The Tories need a massive swing to even get a majority of one
• Cameron has not "sealed the deal" with the electorate, as the electorate still don't trust his party
• The public doesn't want the Tories' "age of austerity": Tory cuts will always be scarier than Labour cuts
• Tory EU policy is an awkward compromise which will fall apart under pressure
• Voters want a guarantees of better schools and hospitals, not Tory gambles with them
• When politics becomes a choice of two governments and not a referendum, Labour will close the gap
• An economic recovery's just around the corner
Which camp would you be in?
Hat-Tip to Iain Dale's Diary
The fighters' view
• We won the Glasgow by-election with almost 60% of the vote - so much for the talk of the SNP sweeping through Scotland
• The Tories are struggling to stay above 40% in the polls, whereas in 1996 Labour was often above 50%
• The Tories need a massive swing to even get a majority of one
• Cameron has not "sealed the deal" with the electorate, as the electorate still don't trust his party
• The public doesn't want the Tories' "age of austerity": Tory cuts will always be scarier than Labour cuts
• Tory EU policy is an awkward compromise which will fall apart under pressure
• Voters want a guarantees of better schools and hospitals, not Tory gambles with them
• When politics becomes a choice of two governments and not a referendum, Labour will close the gap
• An economic recovery's just around the corner
Which camp would you be in?
Hat-Tip to Iain Dale's Diary
Bringing Rights Home
Bringing Rights Home
"The Human Rights Act 1998 ("HRA") was intended to make the rights set out on the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") enforceable more swiftly and directly, within the UK. The HRA was intended to bring the rights guaranteed by the ECHR "home" for everyone and provide effective domestic remedies for violations of ECHR rights and freedoms".
Lake Bled Slovenia
It can be revealved that there are proposals afoot to reform the Convention system. I am particularly interested in the proposals related to giving the Committee of Ministers more powers to allow them to effectively execute the Court decisions and supervise the Member State's compliance. The Prisoners Votes Case is a prime example of a government's inordinate delay.
This has become Labour's ticking timebomb.
"The Human Rights Act 1998 ("HRA") was intended to make the rights set out on the European Convention on Human Rights ("ECHR") enforceable more swiftly and directly, within the UK. The HRA was intended to bring the rights guaranteed by the ECHR "home" for everyone and provide effective domestic remedies for violations of ECHR rights and freedoms".
Lake Bled Slovenia
It can be revealved that there are proposals afoot to reform the Convention system. I am particularly interested in the proposals related to giving the Committee of Ministers more powers to allow them to effectively execute the Court decisions and supervise the Member State's compliance. The Prisoners Votes Case is a prime example of a government's inordinate delay.
This has become Labour's ticking timebomb.
Life after Life
Life after Life
By: Charles Hanson
Recently released Lifer Charles Hanson finds he is destined to be defined by his past, "shackled by a criminal identity", yet remains committed to challenging injustice and oppression
Having been released on life licence in July 2009, one of the takeaway pieces of advice I was given by a fellow prisoner on the evening before release was that I should walk away from prison and ‘move on with my life’; leaving the struggles of life behind bars to those still incarcerated. However this is easier said than done, as I continue to be defined as a ‘criminal’ and ‘convicted murderer’, and an arguable risk to the public depending on any perceived circumstances.
I seem destined to be imprisoned by labels, defined by my past and never allowed to forget. The life licence confirms that.
By: Charles Hanson
Recently released Lifer Charles Hanson finds he is destined to be defined by his past, "shackled by a criminal identity", yet remains committed to challenging injustice and oppression
Having been released on life licence in July 2009, one of the takeaway pieces of advice I was given by a fellow prisoner on the evening before release was that I should walk away from prison and ‘move on with my life’; leaving the struggles of life behind bars to those still incarcerated. However this is easier said than done, as I continue to be defined as a ‘criminal’ and ‘convicted murderer’, and an arguable risk to the public depending on any perceived circumstances.
I seem destined to be imprisoned by labels, defined by my past and never allowed to forget. The life licence confirms that.
HEADLINE NEWS - Cuts "foolhardy" say prison governors
HEADLINE NEWS - Cuts "foolhardy" say prison governors
By: Eric McGraw
Budget cuts of £65 million will mean "safety, security and decency will be thrown out of the window": Paul Tidball, President of the Prison Governors’ Association, told the annual PGA Conference
The performance of Her Majesty’s Prison Service jails will inevitably decline as a result of reduced funding while the performance of the privately run jails - some of them a lot more expensive and consistently less safe than HMPS prisons - can ‘sail on merrily with 100% of their funding maintained and assured’. Not exactly a level playing field, Paul Tidball told delegates. The proposed cuts were ‘foolhardy’ and would only result in impoverished regimes becoming less effective in reducing re-offending.
By: Eric McGraw
Budget cuts of £65 million will mean "safety, security and decency will be thrown out of the window": Paul Tidball, President of the Prison Governors’ Association, told the annual PGA Conference
The performance of Her Majesty’s Prison Service jails will inevitably decline as a result of reduced funding while the performance of the privately run jails - some of them a lot more expensive and consistently less safe than HMPS prisons - can ‘sail on merrily with 100% of their funding maintained and assured’. Not exactly a level playing field, Paul Tidball told delegates. The proposed cuts were ‘foolhardy’ and would only result in impoverished regimes becoming less effective in reducing re-offending.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Bullshit Alert: Terrorists smuggle fatwas out of secure prisons
Bullshit Alert: Terrorists smuggle fatwas out of secure prisons
SOME of Britain’s most dangerous Al-Qaeda leaders are promoting jihad from inside high-security prisons by smuggling out propaganda for the internet and finding recruits.
In an authoritative report, Quilliam, a think tank funded by the Home Office, claims “mismanagement” by the Prison Service is helping Al-Qaeda gain recruits and risks “strengthening jihadist movements”.
Pinch of salt and pigs flying by the window...
SOME of Britain’s most dangerous Al-Qaeda leaders are promoting jihad from inside high-security prisons by smuggling out propaganda for the internet and finding recruits.
In an authoritative report, Quilliam, a think tank funded by the Home Office, claims “mismanagement” by the Prison Service is helping Al-Qaeda gain recruits and risks “strengthening jihadist movements”.
Pinch of salt and pigs flying by the window...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Prisoners: Voting
Prisoners: Voting
Question
11.14 am
Asked By Lord Ramsbotham
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will announce the results of the second consultation on prisoners’ voting rights.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My Lords, the second consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisoners closed on
12 Nov 2009 : Column 896
29 September 2009. The Government are carefully studying the responses and will set out the next steps in due course.
Lord Ramsbotham: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that non-answer. When the first consultation was announced in 2006, we were told that it would be completed and that legislation would be published early in 2008. In fact, it was not until April 2009, almost two and a quarter years later—at the end of the first consultation—that the second consultation was announced, with no legislation. The consultation took six months as opposed to three, which is normal. Will the Government explain these inordinate delays in responding to a ruling of the European Court?
Lord Bach: My Lords, our record on responding to the European Court is good, as has been acknowledged generally. This is a particularly difficult and complex issue, involving both what we should do and how we would do it when we allow some prisoners to vote. We have completed a second consultation on the enfranchisement of prisoners. It set out a range of options for prisoner enfranchisement based on sentence length, as well as a number of questions on the practical aspects of implementation, which is not easy. We are studying carefully the responses to the second stage and, as I have told the noble Lord on many occasions, we will consider the next step in due course.
Lord Henley: My Lords, will the Minister confirm—I think that he will—that following the judgment there is no obligation on this country to give the vote to all prisoners? We can limit it to some prisoners and that “some” can be very limited.
Lord Bach: I can confirm what the noble Lord, Lord Henley, has put to me—he is absolutely right. The European Court of Human Rights did not say which prisoners should be given the vote. The court held that the blanket ban was unlawful—of course we accept that—but expressly recognised that each member state has some discretion as to who should be given the vote. It is on that basis that the second consultation has been held.
Baroness Falkner of Margravine: My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the court judgment was in March 2004 and that it has been an inordinately long six years while the Government have been deliberating on this? Will he explain to the House what purpose is served by punishing all prisoners, irrespective of the gravity of their crime, in this manner?
Lord Bach: My Lords, it has been a substantial time, although the date that the noble Baroness should go back to is October 2005, when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights upheld the court’s initial ruling. It is a substantial time but, as I have said, these are complex and difficult issues, about which the public also have views. It remains our view that the right to vote goes to the essence of an offender’s relationship with a democratic society and that the removal of the right to vote from some convicted prisoners can be a proportionate and proper response following conviction and imprisonment.
12 Nov 2009 : Column 897
Lord Elystan-Morgan: Does the Minister not agree that, with so many years having elapsed since a clear and unambiguous judgment was given by the European Court, however sincere the Government may be in their desire to obtain a perfect solution to the situation, inevitably the impression will be given to other countries that they would not be heartbroken if the matter sailed on for all eternity like some legislative “Flying Dutchman”, never finding port or harbour?
Lord Bach: My Lords, we are looking not for a perfect solution but for a workable one—one that will work in practice. Of course we accept that we have to implement the judgment.
Lord Christopher: I will draw, if I may, on my previous experience, which I had better declare: I was chairman for many years of Nacro. For a number of years I lectured in Pentonville, particularly to prisoners on release. One should think about this in terms not simply of whether they should get a vote, but of whether we can give them the vote and use that constructively. That could be done on the basis that they get the vote but we so contrive an educational system—I use those words, but they are not exactly what I mean—whereby they are introduced to general issues of concern to us all. In my experience, once you have dealt with the one rogue element in a group, you can get them interested, working and thinking for themselves.
Lord Bach: My Lords, there is a lot in what my noble friend says. The educational part of the work that goes on in prisons these days is much improved from what it was in the past. There is absolutely no reason why we should not do as he says.
Lord Redesdale: My Lords, from the Minister’s Answer I was not clear whether there will be a chance for the changes to take place before the next election. If they are to take place before the election, are the Government undertaking any polling on which way prisoners will vote?
Lord Bach: On the second part of the noble Lord’s question, we have undertaken no polling of that kind, but I should be interested to hear his views on that. As to the first part, I can only repeat that the Government are carefully studying the responses to the second stage consultation and will consider the next steps in due course.
Lord Tebbit: My Lords, on the right to vote, should prisoners be confined to voting on European referenda?
Lord Bach: That sounds rather like the “Flying Dutchman” example referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan.
Question
11.14 am
Asked By Lord Ramsbotham
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will announce the results of the second consultation on prisoners’ voting rights.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My Lords, the second consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisoners closed on
12 Nov 2009 : Column 896
29 September 2009. The Government are carefully studying the responses and will set out the next steps in due course.
Lord Ramsbotham: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that non-answer. When the first consultation was announced in 2006, we were told that it would be completed and that legislation would be published early in 2008. In fact, it was not until April 2009, almost two and a quarter years later—at the end of the first consultation—that the second consultation was announced, with no legislation. The consultation took six months as opposed to three, which is normal. Will the Government explain these inordinate delays in responding to a ruling of the European Court?
Lord Bach: My Lords, our record on responding to the European Court is good, as has been acknowledged generally. This is a particularly difficult and complex issue, involving both what we should do and how we would do it when we allow some prisoners to vote. We have completed a second consultation on the enfranchisement of prisoners. It set out a range of options for prisoner enfranchisement based on sentence length, as well as a number of questions on the practical aspects of implementation, which is not easy. We are studying carefully the responses to the second stage and, as I have told the noble Lord on many occasions, we will consider the next step in due course.
Lord Henley: My Lords, will the Minister confirm—I think that he will—that following the judgment there is no obligation on this country to give the vote to all prisoners? We can limit it to some prisoners and that “some” can be very limited.
Lord Bach: I can confirm what the noble Lord, Lord Henley, has put to me—he is absolutely right. The European Court of Human Rights did not say which prisoners should be given the vote. The court held that the blanket ban was unlawful—of course we accept that—but expressly recognised that each member state has some discretion as to who should be given the vote. It is on that basis that the second consultation has been held.
Baroness Falkner of Margravine: My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the court judgment was in March 2004 and that it has been an inordinately long six years while the Government have been deliberating on this? Will he explain to the House what purpose is served by punishing all prisoners, irrespective of the gravity of their crime, in this manner?
Lord Bach: My Lords, it has been a substantial time, although the date that the noble Baroness should go back to is October 2005, when the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights upheld the court’s initial ruling. It is a substantial time but, as I have said, these are complex and difficult issues, about which the public also have views. It remains our view that the right to vote goes to the essence of an offender’s relationship with a democratic society and that the removal of the right to vote from some convicted prisoners can be a proportionate and proper response following conviction and imprisonment.
12 Nov 2009 : Column 897
Lord Elystan-Morgan: Does the Minister not agree that, with so many years having elapsed since a clear and unambiguous judgment was given by the European Court, however sincere the Government may be in their desire to obtain a perfect solution to the situation, inevitably the impression will be given to other countries that they would not be heartbroken if the matter sailed on for all eternity like some legislative “Flying Dutchman”, never finding port or harbour?
Lord Bach: My Lords, we are looking not for a perfect solution but for a workable one—one that will work in practice. Of course we accept that we have to implement the judgment.
Lord Christopher: I will draw, if I may, on my previous experience, which I had better declare: I was chairman for many years of Nacro. For a number of years I lectured in Pentonville, particularly to prisoners on release. One should think about this in terms not simply of whether they should get a vote, but of whether we can give them the vote and use that constructively. That could be done on the basis that they get the vote but we so contrive an educational system—I use those words, but they are not exactly what I mean—whereby they are introduced to general issues of concern to us all. In my experience, once you have dealt with the one rogue element in a group, you can get them interested, working and thinking for themselves.
Lord Bach: My Lords, there is a lot in what my noble friend says. The educational part of the work that goes on in prisons these days is much improved from what it was in the past. There is absolutely no reason why we should not do as he says.
Lord Redesdale: My Lords, from the Minister’s Answer I was not clear whether there will be a chance for the changes to take place before the next election. If they are to take place before the election, are the Government undertaking any polling on which way prisoners will vote?
Lord Bach: On the second part of the noble Lord’s question, we have undertaken no polling of that kind, but I should be interested to hear his views on that. As to the first part, I can only repeat that the Government are carefully studying the responses to the second stage consultation and will consider the next steps in due course.
Lord Tebbit: My Lords, on the right to vote, should prisoners be confined to voting on European referenda?
Lord Bach: That sounds rather like the “Flying Dutchman” example referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan.
Woman killer flees on shop visit
Woman killer flees on shop visit
A woman convicted of murder has gone on the run during an escorted visit to the shops in south London.
Patricia Gillette, 41, from Streatham, south London, was detained indefinitely in 2007 for killing Mark Murphy, 38, at his home in Streatham in August 2006.
Gillette, who was being held at Bethlem Royal Hospital, was on a visit to shops in West Wickham High Street, Bromley, when she escaped on Friday afternoon.
Police described her as "dangerous" and warned people not to approach her.
This is the type of case which provides ammunition for the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade. Two years after being given a life sentence for murder she is allowed out on a escorted shopping trip. It beggars belief that someone who is described as dangerous was granted this liberty.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum!
Update: On the run female killer arrested
A woman convicted of murder has gone on the run during an escorted visit to the shops in south London.
Patricia Gillette, 41, from Streatham, south London, was detained indefinitely in 2007 for killing Mark Murphy, 38, at his home in Streatham in August 2006.
Gillette, who was being held at Bethlem Royal Hospital, was on a visit to shops in West Wickham High Street, Bromley, when she escaped on Friday afternoon.
Police described her as "dangerous" and warned people not to approach her.
This is the type of case which provides ammunition for the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade. Two years after being given a life sentence for murder she is allowed out on a escorted shopping trip. It beggars belief that someone who is described as dangerous was granted this liberty.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum!
Update: On the run female killer arrested
Friday, November 13, 2009
Prison officer who had inmate's baby is jailed
Prison officer who had inmate's baby is jailed
Judge labels Kelly-Anne McDade 'disgraceful' after she admits misconduct with young offender
A former prison officer who had a baby by an inmate has been jailed for 30 months after admitting misconduct in public office.
Kelly-Anne McDade, 31, gave birth to a baby boy in February from the relationship with Nelson Delgado, described as a "dangerous offender", at Aylesbury young offenders institution in Buckinghamshire.
McDade, of Aylesbury, tried to smuggle three mobile phones into the separate institution where 21-year-old Delgado was sent after their affair came to light.
The judge, Christopher Tyrer, called her behaviour "disgraceful" as he passed sentence at Aylesbury crown court.
McDade had been employed at the institution for three years when she started the sexual relationship with Delgado last year.
Her resignation came after she was caught on CCTV opening his cell door on 10 August 2008 after all doors had been closed for the night.
Judge labels Kelly-Anne McDade 'disgraceful' after she admits misconduct with young offender
A former prison officer who had a baby by an inmate has been jailed for 30 months after admitting misconduct in public office.
Kelly-Anne McDade, 31, gave birth to a baby boy in February from the relationship with Nelson Delgado, described as a "dangerous offender", at Aylesbury young offenders institution in Buckinghamshire.
McDade, of Aylesbury, tried to smuggle three mobile phones into the separate institution where 21-year-old Delgado was sent after their affair came to light.
The judge, Christopher Tyrer, called her behaviour "disgraceful" as he passed sentence at Aylesbury crown court.
McDade had been employed at the institution for three years when she started the sexual relationship with Delgado last year.
Her resignation came after she was caught on CCTV opening his cell door on 10 August 2008 after all doors had been closed for the night.
Good news and bad news
Good news and bad news
I know it is Friday the 13th...
Last night at 7.30 Humphrey phoned me to say that Rocky had been fed and walked and that everything was ok.
I got back from London at approximately 11.10, only to discover as I put my left hand on the door handle and my right hand with the door key went towards the lock that there was a gaping hole where the lock should have been!
Shock, horror! I was concerned that Rocky did not appear at the lounge window as was his custom. I backed off until I reached the main road before dialling 999 to report the break in.
It is annoying that instead of receiving an immediate response to an emergency the operator subjects me to a game of 20 questions. I am told that the police computer has crashed, and that they will call my mobile number back. No sooner had I been called back than my battery went dead.
I flagged a taxi down and went to Humphrey's house, the other side of Pearson Park. After explaining my concerns, I again dialled 999. We played 20 questions again! I was told I would be phoned back, after 45 minutes and no call back Humphrey dialled 999. He explained the situation. Then I was asked to give my date of birth. It is totally irrelevant to an emergency call for police assistance, and the information is sought purely to do a criminal record office check.
After a while they asked to speak to me. I was informed that earlier they had received a call about my house but would give me no more information. They spoke to Humphrey again, and said that a car was dealing with an incident at Bransholme, and when it is finnished dealing with this incident in approximately 15 minutes they would call us back.
I said to Humphrey, "Are they trying to tell us that there is only one police car for the whole of Hull?".
After 2 hours from the original 999 call, we received a phone call and the police said it was them who had done the break in! But they called it a "forced entry", on the grounds that they had reason to believe that my life was in danger. They said that my back door key and Rocky was with the neighbour to the house to the right of mine.
It was just gone 1am, and we drove to my house. This time I could see Rocky at the lounge window, and I gained entry via the lounge window. Even though there was no lock, the police had used a gadget to secure the door and I was unable to open it. On the door mat were several notes from the police informing me that they had forced entry, and that Rocky and my back door key were with the neighbour at Number 1, this is neither to the right going in or out of my house but at the end of the street! As I could not get in or out via either of the doors, Humphrey and I climbed back out of the window and went along to the neighbour at No.1.
She said she was concerned because she had not seen me for a couple of days, and called the police. Not only had the police arrived but also an ambulance...
It was good to have neighbours concerned for my welfare, especially as I had bumped in to a local hoodlum a couple of nights earlier and he had said to me "You're going to be dead soon!". I do have a worrying chest infection and am in need of some anti-biotics.
I know it is Friday the 13th...
Last night at 7.30 Humphrey phoned me to say that Rocky had been fed and walked and that everything was ok.
I got back from London at approximately 11.10, only to discover as I put my left hand on the door handle and my right hand with the door key went towards the lock that there was a gaping hole where the lock should have been!
Shock, horror! I was concerned that Rocky did not appear at the lounge window as was his custom. I backed off until I reached the main road before dialling 999 to report the break in.
It is annoying that instead of receiving an immediate response to an emergency the operator subjects me to a game of 20 questions. I am told that the police computer has crashed, and that they will call my mobile number back. No sooner had I been called back than my battery went dead.
I flagged a taxi down and went to Humphrey's house, the other side of Pearson Park. After explaining my concerns, I again dialled 999. We played 20 questions again! I was told I would be phoned back, after 45 minutes and no call back Humphrey dialled 999. He explained the situation. Then I was asked to give my date of birth. It is totally irrelevant to an emergency call for police assistance, and the information is sought purely to do a criminal record office check.
After a while they asked to speak to me. I was informed that earlier they had received a call about my house but would give me no more information. They spoke to Humphrey again, and said that a car was dealing with an incident at Bransholme, and when it is finnished dealing with this incident in approximately 15 minutes they would call us back.
I said to Humphrey, "Are they trying to tell us that there is only one police car for the whole of Hull?".
After 2 hours from the original 999 call, we received a phone call and the police said it was them who had done the break in! But they called it a "forced entry", on the grounds that they had reason to believe that my life was in danger. They said that my back door key and Rocky was with the neighbour to the house to the right of mine.
It was just gone 1am, and we drove to my house. This time I could see Rocky at the lounge window, and I gained entry via the lounge window. Even though there was no lock, the police had used a gadget to secure the door and I was unable to open it. On the door mat were several notes from the police informing me that they had forced entry, and that Rocky and my back door key were with the neighbour at Number 1, this is neither to the right going in or out of my house but at the end of the street! As I could not get in or out via either of the doors, Humphrey and I climbed back out of the window and went along to the neighbour at No.1.
She said she was concerned because she had not seen me for a couple of days, and called the police. Not only had the police arrived but also an ambulance...
It was good to have neighbours concerned for my welfare, especially as I had bumped in to a local hoodlum a couple of nights earlier and he had said to me "You're going to be dead soon!". I do have a worrying chest infection and am in need of some anti-biotics.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Brown and Straw have the piss taken out of them...
Brown and Straw have the piss taken out of them...
And, are we supposed to take this joker Jack Straw seriously?
And, are we supposed to take this joker Jack Straw seriously?
The enemy within
The enemy within
The Independent reports:
Ministers cancel 'Big Brother' database
Plan to store details of every phone call and email 'kicked into long grass' after furore
The Telegraph reports:
State to 'spy' on every phone call, email and web search
Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies.
The headlines appear to be telling different stories, however, they merge in the stories when it comes to a delay in legislating to bring in this Big Brother power.
I thought that the public is the master and the government the servant? Here we have the servant's desire to spy on the master, and the so-called justification is weaker than a wet teabag. Moreover, to protect the public the government is intent on stripping away any right to privacy. This is clearly a violation. To add insult to injury, the government intends taxing the public to the tune of £2billion which it will pay to the private sector to spy on the public.
Oops...how The Telegraph got it wrong
The Independent reports:
Ministers cancel 'Big Brother' database
Plan to store details of every phone call and email 'kicked into long grass' after furore
The Telegraph reports:
State to 'spy' on every phone call, email and web search
Every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies.
The headlines appear to be telling different stories, however, they merge in the stories when it comes to a delay in legislating to bring in this Big Brother power.
I thought that the public is the master and the government the servant? Here we have the servant's desire to spy on the master, and the so-called justification is weaker than a wet teabag. Moreover, to protect the public the government is intent on stripping away any right to privacy. This is clearly a violation. To add insult to injury, the government intends taxing the public to the tune of £2billion which it will pay to the private sector to spy on the public.
Oops...how The Telegraph got it wrong
Monday, November 09, 2009
It's grim up North
It's grim up North
Yesterday morning I woke up with a cold. I spent part of the afternoon in bed. I must have been bad because I even watched the James Bond film Octopussy on ITV. In the evening I had a couple of medicinal whiskys, and watched Die Hard 4.0 on Ch4. This morning I had a Lemsip, and a hot bowl of porridge. Feeling a bit fragile. However, I am hoping it will have cleared up by Wednesday when I am heading down to London for the Inside Time book launch of Inside Information the comprehensive guide to prisons and prison related services.
Yesterday morning I woke up with a cold. I spent part of the afternoon in bed. I must have been bad because I even watched the James Bond film Octopussy on ITV. In the evening I had a couple of medicinal whiskys, and watched Die Hard 4.0 on Ch4. This morning I had a Lemsip, and a hot bowl of porridge. Feeling a bit fragile. However, I am hoping it will have cleared up by Wednesday when I am heading down to London for the Inside Time book launch of Inside Information the comprehensive guide to prisons and prison related services.
Princess Eugenie complains to police she is not being stalked
Princess Eugenie complains to police she is not being stalked
I am against minor royals costing the taxpayers a lot of money for royal protection officers. Having said that, it is being reported Princess Eugenie loses Royal Protection security guards during night out in Newcastle. She lost them? I would have thought it was their jobs to offer close protection? Off with their heads! So, she gives them her route and still they cannot find her. But, why were they so distant in the first place? This would indicate she does not need bodyguards.
I am against minor royals costing the taxpayers a lot of money for royal protection officers. Having said that, it is being reported Princess Eugenie loses Royal Protection security guards during night out in Newcastle. She lost them? I would have thought it was their jobs to offer close protection? Off with their heads! So, she gives them her route and still they cannot find her. But, why were they so distant in the first place? This would indicate she does not need bodyguards.
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