Primary school caretaker Miles Cooper was this week
found guilty of carrying out a letter bomb campaign in which eight people were injured. He said he had been "angry at authorities", in particular the amount of power given to the government, and "concerned about the direction my country was heading in". Whilst I do not for one moment condone his actions, does he have a point?
We may shortly find ourselves living in a country where:
- We all have to carry identity cards;
- Our DNA is kept on a central database;
- Many of our personal details will be on databases available to the authorities;
- We will not be able to set foot in the street without being filmed;
- Our right to freedom of speech may be curtailed; and
- Our basic civil liberties may be restricted in the name of anti-terrorism.
Perhaps we should all be concerned at the direction our country is heading.
I just can't help believing that laws like these, no matter how well-intentioned they MAY be, will one day give rise to the most enormous and bloody backlash against the authorities. There is an absolute right to free speech under Article 19 of the UDHR to which Britain is a signatory. Continuing to tamper with the scope of this right will one day explode in their faces - like Mr. Cooper's letter bombs.
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