Let’s play a little game of ‘what-if’.
What if I decide that, as I don’t own a car, then neither should you?
So I camp out at the bottom of your drive, or on the road next to your car. Basically, I make it impossible for you to use your car without hitting me. You plead with me to move, and I ignore you. You cannot lay a finger on me, because that would be assault, and I would be more than happy to press charges. So you cannot compel me to move.
The only thing that will persuade me to abandon my protest is when I see you sell your car.
Now, is my protest fair to you? If you think so (Mark Johnson certainly does), then fair enough. If you think not, then we need the measure the government is proposing.
We already have well established principles in place to guarantee public order without impinging on citizens’ rights to protest. The expansion of police powers in that context should be worrying, without the need to play little straw man games of this nature.
Sarah Johnson
2 years ago
Whenever a government grabs new powers, you always need to ask: how could these powers be abused? What if the next government is rogue?
Some Tories are in favour of the Bill because they think it will be used to crack down on people they disagree with and disapprove of. That’s short-sighted. If you’re a Tory ask yourself: what if a Labour government had these powers and used them in a partisan way against my tribe? It’s not just the obvious Covid-related stuff as described in the main article. How could this be used against anti-immigration protests? Brexiters?
(Labour and Lib Dem voters are already looking at the prospect of these powers being in the hands of a hostile government, which is why I’m addressing this advice to Tories; if Labour was in power it would be the other way round.)
Giving government more powers is always dangerous because once the powers exist they will be used. Ignore all protests to the contrary. Remember how Labour promised their anti-terrorist laws would only ever be used against very bad people and then actually ended up using it against everyone from Icelandic banks to a little old lady who heckled the Labour Party conference? Giving government the powers in the PSCS bill is beyond dangerous. They are too broad, they are practically begging to be abused, and they represent a large step down the road to dictatorship.
I am making serious plans to emigrate within the next 2 years. You may wish to do the same.
While agreeing entirely with the sentiment of your comment (and voting accordingly), after the last two years I rather am curious as to where you are planning to go.
That is a very tricky question but I’m currently leaning toward Sweden as the only country whose constitution actually functioned to defend citizens’ rights against government overreach.
The Tories will just bludgeon this bill through without thoiught of future consequence because the major UK political parties don’t think very much beyond the next General Election. Starmer will speak against it but will go into the “Aye’s” lobby (or do a Blair and remember he has important business elsewhere, come the day) so that he can use the powers as soon as he returns from the Palace.
AC Harper
2 years ago
While I share the disquiet around such a Bill I am also reassured by the ongoing ineptness of the Police in applying the laws that already exist.
There are plenty who think that a new law will automatically result in changes in peoples’ behaviours (including many politicians). But – a truism – only the law abiding will abide by the law. And most people will suddenly find ‘reasons’ to ignore the law when it inconveniences them.
Let’s play a little game of ‘what-if’.
What if I decide that, as I don’t own a car, then neither should you?
So I camp out at the bottom of your drive, or on the road next to your car. Basically, I make it impossible for you to use your car without hitting me. You plead with me to move, and I ignore you. You cannot lay a finger on me, because that would be assault, and I would be more than happy to press charges. So you cannot compel me to move.
The only thing that will persuade me to abandon my protest is when I see you sell your car.
Now, is my protest fair to you? If you think so (Mark Johnson certainly does), then fair enough. If you think not, then we need the measure the government is proposing.
We already have well established principles in place to guarantee public order without impinging on citizens’ rights to protest. The expansion of police powers in that context should be worrying, without the need to play little straw man games of this nature.
Whenever a government grabs new powers, you always need to ask: how could these powers be abused? What if the next government is rogue?
Some Tories are in favour of the Bill because they think it will be used to crack down on people they disagree with and disapprove of. That’s short-sighted. If you’re a Tory ask yourself: what if a Labour government had these powers and used them in a partisan way against my tribe? It’s not just the obvious Covid-related stuff as described in the main article. How could this be used against anti-immigration protests? Brexiters?
(Labour and Lib Dem voters are already looking at the prospect of these powers being in the hands of a hostile government, which is why I’m addressing this advice to Tories; if Labour was in power it would be the other way round.)
Giving government more powers is always dangerous because once the powers exist they will be used. Ignore all protests to the contrary. Remember how Labour promised their anti-terrorist laws would only ever be used against very bad people and then actually ended up using it against everyone from Icelandic banks to a little old lady who heckled the Labour Party conference? Giving government the powers in the PSCS bill is beyond dangerous. They are too broad, they are practically begging to be abused, and they represent a large step down the road to dictatorship.
I am making serious plans to emigrate within the next 2 years. You may wish to do the same.
While agreeing entirely with the sentiment of your comment (and voting accordingly), after the last two years I rather am curious as to where you are planning to go.
That is a very tricky question but I’m currently leaning toward Sweden as the only country whose constitution actually functioned to defend citizens’ rights against government overreach.
A good choice no doubt. All the best with it!
The Tories will just bludgeon this bill through without thoiught of future consequence because the major UK political parties don’t think very much beyond the next General Election. Starmer will speak against it but will go into the “Aye’s” lobby (or do a Blair and remember he has important business elsewhere, come the day) so that he can use the powers as soon as he returns from the Palace.
While I share the disquiet around such a Bill I am also reassured by the ongoing ineptness of the Police in applying the laws that already exist.
There are plenty who think that a new law will automatically result in changes in peoples’ behaviours (including many politicians). But – a truism – only the law abiding will abide by the law. And most people will suddenly find ‘reasons’ to ignore the law when it inconveniences them.