Now the mainstream media tells us, that the Blair administration has "suffered a series of setbacks" as the government has attempted to railroad the Bill through the Commons and the Lord's before March 14th. Apparently 'concessions' have been granted, and we are thus supposed to rest easy, because these new draconian powers will be in the hands of government sanctioned Judges and not ministers.

In truth though, the administration has merely begun the conditioning process required to gain public acceptance for these new laws. If is not forthcoming, it will simply ratchet up the fear level, or there will be an actual attack. Whatever means and methods are required to gain the consent, (or maintain the ignorance) of the people, will be employed. It appears increasingly likely, that the legislation will be reintroduced in a stronger form in the new parliament, once the election is safely out of the way, and the government has a suitable parliamentary majority in place.

I have been relentlessly informed, that these measures are designed to 'protect' me from the very real danger of a terrorist attack, that the new powers contained in the Bill, are only to be used against 'Enemies of the State’ But who defines what constitutes an enemy, and what actions and beliefs are to be considered "subversive" "dangerous" or otherwise offensive? In particular, what kind of society are we living in, when we can remove a person's freedom, and sanction the use of torture against them, without giving them any right to trial, or to the due process of Law?

How can someone be guilty of a crime unless it can be demonstrated that they have actually committed one? Are we not being asked to accept that the State alone, (or it's duly sanctioned officials), have now become the sole judges of a persons innocence or guilt? That they alone have the right to determine in secret if an accused prisoner is guilty?

The right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers, and to have the evidence against you presented to you, in a court of Law, as well as the right to know WHO is accusing you, and of what, are fundamental principles of our society dating back hundreds of years. The moment we surrender these rights unchallenged, we have given the State complete power, to control the innocence or guilt of its individuals. By doing this we abdicate responsibility for justice to politicians, Judges, and military tribunals, the new de-facto standard's of our Justice system.

The 'people' like Elvis, have left the building...

Do we no longer care enough to protect our freedoms, and so we have willingly relinquished the responsibility? Have we given up on freedom, replacing it with comforting embrace of the authoritarian police state? Is the State sovereign and master over each of us now, and are the rights of individual's dispensable?

These are the questions I find myself asking today... I know my own answers, but I don't presume to know what yours are. Are you willing to see your neighbours, arrested, imprisoned, and subject to tagging, phone-taps, and total restriction without verifiable evidence ever being presented against them? Are you willing to stand by and allow your elected officials to sanction torture as a means of obtaining confession and conviction? If that is so, what other 'orders' are you willing to passively accept from your Political and Judicial masters? What assurances have you been given that the same methods will not one day be used against you? Benjamin Franklin once wrote that "those who give up essential liberty. To purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither" I don't know if he intended it as a threat or a promise!

But regardless, you have been warned.