The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

THE LAST DITCH

Who? Whom? That is the only question.

Published by Tom

on

A request to snoop on public every 60 seconds – Telegraph.

The British electorate has taken its eye off the ball. More precisely, it has taken its eye off its political and administrative classes. It has failed in that eternal vigilance that is the price of liberty.

This blog and many others have been making these points for years, only to be sneered at by the "progressives" who believe the state benign. They tell us that, if we have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear. One request every 60 seconds suggests that an awful lot of us are perceived to have something to hide. Or that your aunt who works at the local council has a lot of prurient curiosity.

These intercepts are mostly not being performed by the security services in counter-terrorism operations, as was intended. They are being used routinely by all arms of the British state. It is time to put these jobsworths back in their boxes.

4 responses to “Who? Whom? That is the only question.”

  1. Kevyn Bodman Avatar
    Kevyn Bodman

    ‘…counter terrorism operations, as was intended.’
    No, I’m afraid this is not correct.
    ‘Counter-terrorism ‘ was only how it was sold; it was never intended to be restricted to that, the architects of this plan always knew and intended that these powers would be used widely.
    I cannot work out which of our ‘leaders’ are in on this; it’s entirely possible that almost no backbenchers understood what they were doing when this legislation was passed.Perhaps not all members of the relevant Cabinet committee knew the truth at the time, but surely they all know now; tragically they probably think it’s OK.

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  2. jameshigham Avatar
    jameshigham

    Did they ever have their eye on the ball?

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  3. Fay Levoir Avatar
    Fay Levoir

    Wonders who are bored silly tracking her mundane life.
    Yes its insane, yes it has to stop.

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  4. jgib65@yahoo.com Avatar
    jgib65@yahoo.com

    Liberalism/Progressivism: Soulless collectivism that blindly believes in the good of government and that the growth of government translates into safety and equality of outcomes.
    However, this new type of progressivism appears to be more like fascism, and we are seeing it everywhere. 1. The economy and the merger of trillions of govt monies with corporations.
    2. The Patriot Act in the U.S. with all its spying.
    3. Blackwater thugs fighting wars under U.S. contracts.
    Etc……….

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Your blogger

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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