• Home
• Subjects
• Blog Roll
• Blindside
• Kable
• Advanced Search

• 

20 Oct 2008

Outgoing DPP calls for us to resist the “paraphenalia of paranoia”

Reported in the Telegraph:

Outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald warned that the expansion of technology by the state into everyday life could create a world future generations “can’t bear”.

In his wide-ranging speech, Sir Ken appeared to condemn a series of key Government policies, attacking terrorism proposals - including 42 day detention - identity card plans and the “paraphernalia of paranoia”. Instead, he said, the Government should insist that “our rights are priceless” and that: “The best way to face down those threats is to strengthen our institutions rather than to degrade them.”

Damn right. What a heartening intervention, from somebody who - one assumes - knows quite a lot about that of which he speaks.

He warned that MPs should “take very great care to imagine the world we are creating before we build it. We might end up living with something we can’t bear”. Sir Ken, who has held the post for the past five years, said: “We need to take very great care not to fall into a way of life in which freedom’s back is broken by the relentless pressure of a security State...He added: “It is difficult to see who will maintain a cool head if governments do not. Or who will protect our Constitution if governments unwittingly disarm it.” Britain was right to tackle terrorism and other “medieval delusions” through the courts, he said. This was “in accordance with our constitution”.

Thank you, Friend!

• Posted by William Heath on 20/10/08 at 8:35pm
• Categories · "What do we want?" · Foundation of Trust · Political engagement
• Comments (0)  Permalink

Ideal Government

Let's say what we want from e-enabled government. Let's observe government first-hand. Let's say "Wouldn't It Be Better If" (WIBBI). Become an ethnographer of bureaucracy today! It beats getting frustrated with public services.

Categories

• "What do we want?"
  • Wibbipedia/MindtheGap
  • Design: Co-creation
    • Online Maps
  • Design: user-oriented
  • Foundation of Trust
    • Identity
    • Data nitwittery
    • Official fibbing/bad stats
  • Save Time and Money
• Greener government IT
• Pertinent Art
• Power of Information
• Political engagement
• "Transformational Government"
• Government Procurement
• Across the Board
• Ideal Goverment - project

Comment

Anyone is free to comment. Or mail with an article if you want to be an author. I'll post it up and send you a password. This whole thing is supported by Kable.

Authors

Sign up for new articles

Copyright

Designed by...

Statistics

This page has been viewed 1633377 times

Entries: 1716 | Comments: 2785 | Trackbacks: 206
Most Recent Entry: 01/07/2009 10:59 am
Most Recent Comment: 01/02/2009 04:11 pm

Members: 185 | Logged in: 0 | Guests: 36
Most recent visitor: 01/07/2009 06:24 pm
Most visitors ever: 443 on 10/12/2005 02:21 pm