THE news of Wanstead High school pupils being stopped under the Terrorism Act should provide ample warning for all of the dangers of giving too much power to the police.
At a time when the Government is seeking to force through yet another anti-terror bill giving powers to detain suspects for 42 days prior to charge, this incident provides a timely reminder of how such powers can so easily get misused.
There is now a growing list of how powers, brought in to combat the undefined but all embracing terror threat, have been misused.
advertisement
There was Walter Wolfgang, the pensioner manhandled out of the Labour Party conference for complaining too loudly about the actions of his leaders.
The protestors arrested under anti-terror powers outside the arms exhibition at Excel and various other surveillance exercises that palpably have nothing to do with preventing terrorism.
There is a well-trod path going back to the days of the Northern Ireland conflict that reveals anti-terror powers quickly being deployed by police to tackle all sorts of crime that have nothing remotely to do with terrorism.
It is time for people to wake up to the falseness of those in government who offer to provide security if the people give up all their rights. This latest example of abuse of power seen in our own community provides a timely reminder as to how important it is for MPs to vote down the latest Counter Terrorism Bill that seeks among other things to bring in the 42 day pre-charge detention power for police.
Not only should this latest piece of ill thought out legislation be voted down but much of the recent misused anti-terror legislation must be reviewed.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
