The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

THE LAST DITCH

The Big Brother state

Published by Tom

on

The Big Brother state – by stealth – UK Politics, UK – The Independent.

It does not matter whether the majority approve schemes which undermine individual rights. Democracy is not a moral force, it is just a mechanism to determine who is in charge of the state, which has (or should have) limits. In Britain, the Labour government has a mandate from only about 20% of the the population (36% of those who voted). No sensible constitution would allow major extensions of state power on such a mandate. Most would require a qualified majority far greater than 50%.

The howls of pain from those of us with concerns about our freedom are regarded as eccentric. But we are not alone in our fears.

Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said he believed Britain had gone too far in helping to bring about a "surveillance society". In a report drawing on personal data infringements across Europe but "inspired" by Britain's plan for a new internet, email and telephone database, he added: "General surveillance raises serious democratic problems which are not answered by the repeated assertion that those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. This puts the onus in the wrong place: it should be for states to justify the interferences they seek to make on privacy rights."

The "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" slogan disgusts me. Mr Hammarberg is quite right to say that the onus of proof is not on us, but on those who seek to limit our liberty.

3 responses to “The Big Brother state”

  1. Polaris Avatar
    Polaris

    An incredibly prescient post Tom, given the hullabaloo around the censorship of a Wikipedia page by UK ISPs today…

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  2. jameshigham Avatar
    jameshigham

    Was there ever an invitation to restrict freedoms as that “if you have nothing to hide” defence? Was there ever an insult like that?

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  3. tbrrob Avatar
    tbrrob

    You’re absolutely right democracy is just a mechanism. It does not mean a country or people are free however.

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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