The future of Government (if any)

[thundril]

Latest post of the previous page:

On a lighter note!

[Dave B]

On a lighter note!

That could be the inspiration for a load of puns . . . No, I think i'll forgo that pleasure

[Alan H]

Theresa May's proposed spying law is 'worse than scary' United Nations says

Theresa May’s proposed surveillance and spying laws are “worse than scary”, the United Nations’ privacy chief has said.

Joseph Cannataci, the UN's special rapporteur on privacy, said the draft Investigatory Powers Bill heralded a “golden age of surveillance” unlike any that had come before.

The draft law, published by the Home Secretary earlier this month, would require internet companies to hand over any and all of their users’ communications as required by authorities.

Other provisions in the bill require the visited websites of all users to be stored on record for a year.

Mr Cannataci accused the British Government of an “orchestrated” propaganda campaign through its allies in the media to get the law passed with public consent.

“We're now at the stage where for the first time we have an absolute offensive,” he said.

[Nick]

I assume this diatribe against surveillance and spying also includes financial matters too....

[Alan H]

I assume this diatribe against surveillance and spying also includes financial matters too....

What diatribe?

[Alan H]

The “Carlile Doctrine”

Lord Carlile has used the atrocities two days ago in Paris as the basis for calling for proposed new UK surveillance laws to be “expedited”.

It is, of course, far too early to say whether anything about the French attacks warrants any legal change in UK.

For example, France already has more extensive surveillance laws than UK, and the atrocities still happened.

This does not matter to Lord Carlile and the rest of the security lobby. They have a pretext for demanding more legal powers for the security services, and so they do.

We should now have a name for this opportunistic approach, and perhaps a good name for it would be the Carlile Doctrine:

Any act of terrorism will justify more legal powers for security forces, regardless of what it is.

[Alan H]

Here they come... Pass the snooper's charter now, or London will be next

[Nick]

So no snooping into people's financial affairs, then, Alan?

[Alan H]

So no snooping into people's financial affairs, then, Alan?

What diatribe, Nick?

[Nick]

Yours, Alan. Now how about answering mine?

[Alan H]

Yours, Alan. Now how about answering mine?

I would have to assume you think the majority (if not all) of my posts are diatribes, so you'll need to be a teensy bit more specific.

[Nick]

This one: (for now.... )

So no snooping into people's financial affairs, then, Alan?

[Alan H]

This one: (for now.... )

So no snooping into people's financial affairs, then, Alan?

That's not one of my 'diatribes', Nick. Which diatribe are you referring to?

But even if you're asking me that question without hinting at what your previous question was referring to, it's an odd question, out of the context, almost rhetorical.

[Nick]

But even if you're asking me that question without hinting at what your previous question was referring to, it's an odd question, out of the context, almost rhetorical.

Not odd, not out of context, nor rhetorical. If you can't follow the logic, I really can't help you.

[Alan H]

But even if you're asking me that question without hinting at what your previous question was referring to, it's an odd question, out of the context, almost rhetorical.

Not odd, not out of context, nor rhetorical. If you can't follow the logic, I really can't help you.

Agreed.

[Alan H]

The young will lose out, again, in George Osborne’s spending review

The chancellor’s spending review looks set to intensify the trend away from investing in the younger generation towards concentrating spending on the older one

[Alan H]

Tory MP Philip Davies up to his old tricks again: Tory MPs block bill to give first aid training to children by talking non-stop until debate ends

Conservative MPs have blocked a bill to bring first aid training to schools by talking non-stop until time to discuss and vote on it ran out.

The Compulsory Emergency First Aid Education (State-Funded Secondary Schools) Bill would have required schools to teach first aid training to children as part of the national curriculum.

The group of MPs used up the bill’s time by talking for hours, with one speech by an education minister described by the deputy speaker as like reading a “telephone book” out loud.

Because the proposed law is not supported by the Government it only has a limited amount of time to be debated in Parliament, or has to be shelved.

It is backed by St John’s Ambulance, the British Red Cross, and the British Heart Foundation .

Tory MP Philip Davies, who is famous for “talking out” bills during Friday sessions of parliament, gave the longest speech of all, lasting around 50 minutes.

[Alan H]

Another Tory U-turn? The damning Commons justice committee report on the criminal courts charge

[Dave B]

Another Tory U-turn? The damning Commons justice committee report on the criminal courts charge

BBC's "Law in Action" was pretty scathing about this, one magistrate even risked his position to say that it was iniquitous.

They had a woman on who said that the only way she would be able to pay the court fee, solicitor's fees, victim compensation etc. was to go out and steal again to raise the money.

[Alan H]

The British Heart Foundation: Government blocks First Aid Bill that could save thousands of lives each year

[Alan H]

Another Tory U-turn? The damning Commons justice committee report on the criminal courts charge

BBC's "Law in Action" was pretty scathing about this, one magistrate even risked his position to say that it was iniquitous.

They had a woman on who said that the only way she would be able to pay the court fee, solicitor's fees, victim compensation etc. was to go out and steal again to raise the money.

From the Howard League for Penal Reform: Criminal Courts Charge case-studies