Blair plan to lock up people without evidence for 90 days defeated
But what if the majority seek limitations in civil liberties?
The defeat of Blair's draconian idea of allowing the police to lock up people without evidence for 90 days was a good sign. It showed some backbone and an awareness that the police can and will abuse its power. Sadly, though, our MPs were not against the principle of internment as such and voted to increase the detention period to 28 days.
A rebellion on the details, not the principle
The defeat of Blair's draconian idea of allowing the police to lock
up people without evidence for 90 days was a good sign. It showed
some backbone and an awareness that the police can and will abuse its
power. Sadly, though, our MPs were not against the principle of
internment as such and voted to increase the detention period to 28
days. This, two years after increasing the period from 7 to 14 days.
Ironically, Blair stated that "Terrorism that wants to destroy our
way of life." Yet Blair, by wanting to effectively eliminate habeas
corpus, is doing just that. Sadly, the MPs only blunted the drift
towards a police state. While 28 days is better than 90, it is still
the longest period for detention without charge in democratic
nations. As such, the rebellion was not a major victory for civil
liberties and principle -- unsurprising, for if the Tories were in
office they would have argued the same line as Blair.
But even this revolt on details, not principle, was too much for
some. The Sun, backers of these draconian measures, called the MPs
"traitors" and incredibly noted that "the limit was slashed to just
28 days." In reality, the limit was doubled not "slashed" and to
trust the government and the police implicitly is naive to the
extreme. But what do you expect of a paper which, to bolster its
case, puts on its front page a victim of the 7/7 attacks who is
totally opposed to Blair's plan? So much for giving the victims a
voice.
What was not mentioned that that neither September 11th nor the
7th or 21st July 2005 attacks would have been prevented by allowing
the police to hold people for 90 days without charge. All of those
involved were not considered to be terrorist suspects nor were they
under police or security service investigation before these attacks.
As such, to use the 7/7 victims as the Sun did is deeply
hypocritical, never mind ignoring those amongst them who opposed the
policy.
But it seems ironic that Blair has now found the democratic
spirit. He told ministers there was a "worrying gap between parts of
Parliament and the reality of the terrorist threat and public
opinion". Yet he was not bothered by this when he wanted to invade
Iraq. Where was the worry when MPs voted for war against the wishes
of the majority? Back then, it was good leadership to ignore the
public. And what of the other issues the public back but which Blair
opposes, such as renationalising the railways or rejecting the
creeping privatisation of the NHS? We know the answer -- the views of
the population only relevant when they coincide with his agenda.
The reality of the Iraq decision was to increase the terrorist
threat and to ignore public opinion. And now Blair asserts that the
issue "is doing the right thing to protect this country"! If so, he
should have listened to his own advisors and concluded that invading
Iraq would increase the terrorist threat here. Could it be that the
90-day bill was primarily developed to protect Blair form the
consequences of that disastrous decision? One thing is sure, while he
implies that any potential future terror attack will be, in part, the
responsibility of MPs for rejecting his policy he failed to take
responsibility for the actual terrorist attack which flowed directly
from his own.
And what of this majority support he pointed to? Ignore the fact
that we have been presented with a very one-sided version of exactly
why these powers are needed. In true authoritarian manner, he
appealed to an abstraction: "I have no doubt where the country is on
this." Yet "the country" does not exist. Rather the individuals who
live in a country exist and they did not all agree with Blair. So why
does the PM think the people support his draconian laws? Because,
apparently, a YouGov poll says that over 70% support the government's
policy. And who commissioned that poll? Sky News. Murdoch strikes
again. Needless to say, the people who commissioned the poll get to
specify the questions so, inevitably, skewing the results. A
different set of questions (like, say, "do you think the police
should hold someone without any evidence of a crime for 90 days")
would have produced different result.
Not that the results actually back the government's position. The
72% for 90 day internment is a composite figure of two positions. 31%
supported the idea that the present 14-day limit for holding
suspected terrorists without charge should be increased to 90 days.
41% agreed that the 14-day limit should be increased to 90 days - but
only in those cases where the police can persuade a senior judge that
the time is needed to gather evidence against the suspect(s). This
second option, it must be stressed, is not what the current Terrorism
Bill is offering. This means that only 31% support Blair's policy as
expressed in the Bill. True, this is nearly 50% more than who backed
Blair in the general election but it is far from the overwhelming
support.
Blair talked of the compelling case made by the police? Like the
compelling case made by the security services to invade Iraq? There
are far more compelling cases against the law. Internment in Northern
Ireland bolstered support for the IRA. The Guildford Four. Police
assassination of innocent people suspected to be terrorists. The use
of anti-terrorism laws against protestors (including hecklers of the
New Labour elite at their own conference). The fact that the police
lie (one example: they told us Jean Claude de Menzies was running and
wearing bulky clothes). That the police have a long history of
abusing their powers. The list is endless.
Looking at Home Office statistics, 97% of those arrested under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act between 1974 and 1988 were released
without charge. Only 1% were convicted and imprisoned. Since 9/11,
this pattern has repeated. Of more than 700 people arrested under the
Terrorism Act since then, half have been released without charge and
only 17 convicted. Of these, only three relate to allegations of
Islamic extremism. To have detained people for 90 days without charge
would only have increased the risks of terrorist attacks as it could
have caused further alienation in the Muslim community without any
increased success in fighting terrorism.
What of anarchism? Clearly, politicians cannot be relied upon to
defend civil liberties. What liberties we have are the product of
struggle, of resistance to the state and its attempts to extend its
power. As such, their best defence exists outside Parliament. Only a
strong people, willing to use direct action and solidarity, can
ensure its own freedoms.
But what if the majority seek limitations in civil liberties? In
that case, the minority must seek to persuade the majority of the
errors of their ways -- by propaganda, debate and, if need be, direct
action.
Anarchism recognises that the majority can be wrong. It recognises
that progress lies with those minorities who question the assumptions
of the many and convince them that they are false. Real reforms,
never mind revolution, become possible when the minority's position
becomes accepted by the mass. The case for self-management, for
direct democracy, is not that the majority is always right. It is
that an elite, even an elected one, will govern in its own interests.
It is that, in order to be free, one must have a say in the decisions
that affect you. It is that participation in common affairs has an
educative role and that it raises awareness of those involved.
Given this, anarchists see their role as defenders of freedom,
both within this system and any libertarian one we may help create.
Part of this task is to resist those who seek to limit our freedoms
today. Another is to create organisations which can successfully
mount that resistance. Another is to create the conditions (a
stateless/classless society) where such limitations are hard to
introduce by eliminating hierarchical organisations and empowering
everyone to participate in the decisions that affect them. This will
help ensure that everyone has a keen interest in their own and other
people's freedom.
Only this can defend individual freedom from both the tyranny of
the minority (what we have now) and the potential tyranny of the
majority.
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