How did we allow Britain to become a Stasi state?

[buckthesystem]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...n_author_id=244

Stephen Glover

How did we allow Britain to become a Stasi state?

Not long ago British children were taught that their country was the freest in the world.

I certainly believed it when I was at school.

I was grateful that I happened to have been born in a nation where the State did not keep tabs on its citizens, and where people were at liberty to go about their lawful business without being watched, monitored or spied upon.

This feeling in us that the British State was essentially benign and non-intrusive ran very deep.

We looked with a mixture of condescension and concern at those continental countries where, despite being democratic, the State still kept a wary and distrustful eye on its citizens.

As for the Eastern bloc, thank God we did not live there!

What has happened today would have seemed unimaginable 30 years ago.

Britain has become one of the most bugged, surveyed countries on Earth.

Privacy International says we have the worst record in Europe for intrusion, and ranks us on a par with Russia.

The writer Timothy Garton Ash, who lived in Communist East Germany and later wrote a book about its Stasi secret police, said yesterday that Britain is an even more developed "surveillance state".

We have more CCTV cameras than any other country in the world - an estimated 4.2 million of them.

We have the biggest national DNA database in the world. We probably also have one of the highest rates of monitoring.

Believe it or not, the authorities, including councils, launch bugging operations against 1,000 people a day. That could include you.

How did this happen? How did a country that was proud of its liberties, and knew the proper place of the State, allow itself to be turned into an eavesdroppers' paradise?

One theory is that out of weakness or inattention successive governments have allowed bureaucrats in public bodies to poke their noses into our affairs.

Some 800 agencies, including nearly 500 councils, have acquired such a right.

But of course governments - and in particular New Labour since 1997 - have actively conspired in this process.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), which has been quietly strengthened over the years, enshrined the power of these public bodies to keep tabs on us.

A council that suspects you of fly-tipping, for example, is entitled to trawl through your telephone records.

According to a recent report by Sir Paul Kennedy, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, in the last nine months of 2006 there were 253,557 applications to intercept phone calls, private correspondence and other communications, most of which were approved.

A small number, supposedly authorised by the Home Secretary, involve listening to people's telephone conversations or monitoring what they do on the internet.

Many more involve old-fashioned spying by officials in person,

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[ladypeartree]

it started when France lost deGaul and his famous " NON " to britains entry into the common market

[David of Derby]

This is a stream of emotive language backed up by very little in the way of facts - just pie-in-the-sky figures handed out with no reference to sources for this information. If law enforcement agencies are applying to intercept phone calls and letters they must have a reason for it. I very much doubt anyone in these agencies is secretly getting a thrill out of reading people's personal correspondence.

Maybe the surveillance culture has gone too far, maybe not, but you notice how "reports" like this never mention the use of CCTV cameras to help convict criminals. I've heard of cases of people being mugged and the scum doing it being caught because an "intrusive" CCTV camera at a cashpoint across the road caught them on film. Bang to rights, fair cop, guv. No one complains then, but when some so-called journalist writes about how we're more "spied on" than the Soviet Union was people moan and cry about it. It's disgusting, frankly.

[woden]

CCTV has helped in either reducing crime or capturing potential suspects committing a crime. But nonetheless there has to be a balance. Since even before 9/11 there has been a steady erosion of civil liberties. I believe HG Wells mentioned about it when he was alive, and how many years ago was that?

When "national security" interests are at stake, and who decides that, then the Geneva Convention or other laws designed to protect members of the public are squeezed and redefined. How many times have we seen in either film or TV shows the idea that given the right conditions, governments become the monster of some Frankensteinian origin. Is it happening in reality? That is the big question. E-mails are intercepted, phone calls monitored by GCHQ, phone lines tapped. It is not science fiction.

Someone was paid a visit by a certain police unit recently. Why? Because he happened to mention the word "guns" in a telephone conversation. Innocent? Yes, in this case. But the rise of religious and political fundamentalism in Britain has called upon the Police and Government to make tough decisions that would rather not make. The head of MI5 recently suggested that there were upwards of 1,300 people involved with groups linked to terrorist activities. When the IRA were a problem it was thought their membership was no more than 300.

So what, as this is a Christian Forum, should we conclude? How we need God's Kingdom to come as Jesus asked us to pray for. He knew the words of Jeremiah 10:23 only too well. God will step in and sort things out. What Christians need to do is not be too side-tracked and become distracted by what Governments do or don't do. Our future lies with God and Jesus.

[ladypeartree]

[psalmone]

I like to honour the Christian inclination of any country. Significantly I believe we're to be supportive of the UK as they'd express a willingness to trust God in the historical action even though misunderstood by many not to mention their protestant stance and the pressures associated. I observe in their system much wisdom and regard for Christian principles. The is a sense that everything is place, genuinely looking to give it a go despite imperfections,only need such to be animated by people of conviction. But it's judacy and sabotage from within and without that ungratefully and miserably try to deny potential and the good quality of life. People who cannot resist from trying to greedily take advantage of trust and good will and charity, though it never fails.

Edited February 7, 2008 by psalmone

[JustinM]

My answer: By taking your freedom for granted and becoming complacent in policy decisions.