Richard's Kingdom

I’m disgusted by the Government’s new DNA database proposals being laid out as a “consultation” today. Jacqui Smith’s transparent attempts at spin are risible. So is any claim by this Government that it values freedom, civil liberties or the presumption of innocence. SIX TO TWELVE YEARS. That’s the length of time Smith wants to keep [...]

The UK Government have just announced a half-sensible security measure. Thousands of UK workers are being trained to help respond to a future terror attack as part of an updated counter-terror strategy, ministers say. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said shop and hotel workers would be among 60,000 people able to deal with an incident. (via [...]

The main purpose of the CCTV panopticon this country has become is not to prevent crime, nor to detect it, nor to prosecute it after the fact, but simply to keep an eye on people. This Guardian report on an underground spy centre in London must surely dispel the doubts of any remaining believers to [...]

The convention on modern liberty is being held today in London, around the country and online. I’m tuned into the live webcast and the flurry of tweets tagged with either #coml or #modernliberty. One common question being asked is “what happens next?” What is to be done about liberty in the United Kingdom and who [...]

There were a bunch of news stories last week ridiculing the Government’s ID card strategy by revealing that, though 50,000 cards will have been issued by April, no official (or unofficial) organisation is yet capable of reading them. No card readers have been issued and the back-end systems aren’t ready yet either. Ministers say they’ve [...]