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And liberty for all

As Blair and Clarke rush us towards our very own police state, the attitudes of those who support the legislation puzzle me. Clarke claims that he finds criticism of the bill "weird". Most other supporters use some variant on "the innocent have nothing to fear". Yet if the government, intelligence services, or police had any evidence of guilt, no one would argue with the perpetrators being locked away. The problem with this bill remains that its provisions can only ever apply to those against whom there is no evidence.

We are supposed to imprison people purely on the basis of governmental suspiscion. The same government that led us to war under false pretences, and, it now emerges, refused to allow even members of the cabinet to view the advice on that war's legality. Miscarriages of justice are not unknown even when evidence is made available to a jury. No civilised nation should allow the imprisonment of anyone purely on the suspicion of government, let alone a government with a record of dishonesty.

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