Since Tony Blair took office in 1997 he has presided over the complete implosion
of every fundamental human right in Britain that one would expect to hold in a
free society.
The following liberties have all been extinguished.
- Freedom of speech: Under the 'glorification of terrorism' law the government
can loosely define any political opinion as glorification of terrorism. College
professors could be arrested for talking about Palestine. Comedians could
be arrested for making jokes.
- Freedom of assembly: Under the Serious Organised Crime Act protesters need
government permission before they can arrange a demonstration. This is like
going to see your doctor, finding out he is killing people, then asking his
permission before you can tell the rest of the people in the waiting room.
- Habeas corpus: For ever increasing lengths of time the government can impose
control orders and lock up anyone they wish without charge.
- Guilty until proved innocent: Every offence is now arrestable in Britain
and this includes dropping a cigarette butt on the street. For every arrest
a DNA record of the accused is kept on a government database forever. Curfews
are expanding to include children of higher and higher ages.
- Right to privacy: A national ID card is set to be introduced to register
and catalogue the details of every British citizen. Its function will be expanded
to include information on a person's political identity and every other facet
of their life.
- Trial by jury: Blair has abolished the 800-year-old tradition of the right
to trial by jury. Trials likely to last over 3 months can be heard by a single
judge.
Blair isn't satisfied with what he has destroyed to date and now seeks to amend
his own human rights law
in order to allow
the government to veto court rulings. This follows the introduction of the
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, which would allow the government to
make any law it wished without a parliamentary vote, in essence legalizing a
dictatorship.