The Great British Police State

Although the government would like us to believe the new Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, also known as T-Pims, are more fair than the previous control orders, in all honesty, all that has changed is the name.

Under the Control Order scheme suspects could be moved out of their houses and neighbourhoods and forced to relocate elsewhere to break up “networks”. Communication and association was restricted and they were placed under strict curfew with electronic tagging. All this was justified by the use of “secret material” not made available to the suspects or their lawyers, thwarting any chance of a challenge.

So from tonight the control order will now be referred to as T-Pims. Admittedly suspects will no longer be relocated but they can still be placed under indefinite house arrest and as with the previous scheme many will not be told what the accusations against them are.

T-Pims will allow prosecution without trial, suspects will be electronically tagged, movement will be restricted as will communication and association and suspects will be be placed under close surveillance.

What is shocking is that the British government seems to have forgotten one of the most basic rights, innocent until proven guilty. All those placed under T-Pims are suspects, meaning there is no credible evidence to prosecute these citizens for terrorism, yet they are being treated as terrorists. If the government does have substantial evidence then why are these suspects not being tried and locked up?

The problem is that in most cases the government has no evidence except for a hunch, usually based on the length of a suspects beard or his ‘Muslamic’ sounding name. But it seems we live in a time where it has become acceptable to strip someone of their liberties, treat them like criminals and deny them the opportunity to clear their names.

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