The Police State

Today I went to a ‘consultation’ meeting in Bordesley Green in Birmingham that was supposed to address some of the reasons why the ‘trust and confidence of the community’* has been eroded and what the West Midlands Police Authority might do to recover it. Except of course it didn’t, because the reason why the trust and confidence of people has been eroded is because the Police Authority rubber stamped the construction of some 290 ANPR and CCTV cameras funded by a counter terrorism budget that ring the Muslim districts of South Birmingham, because the Police continue to refuse to remove those cameras, because in their choice of chair for the 'independent' review into whether or not the cameras should stay up or not, they have chosen a woman who is in fact on the Police board which funded them in the first place, and because the chair of the meeting refused to concede any of those points. 

Having apparently 'apologized' at the last public meeting, a much bigger event, with Shami Chakrabarti among several other high profile speakers, senior Police officers seem to have decided that they can whitewash their way through this, and then when the Guardian and Liberty turn their attention elsewhere, quietly take off the bags and start filming us all again. The fact that one of these monstrous cameras is sat outside my bedroom window feels reason enough to be outraged by this, but more important than that, this is evidence of the apparent complete disregard for civil liberties that has characterized politics in this country for the last decade at least.

Firstly, there are control orders, which allow the Home Secretary to place any person effectively under perpetual house arrest simply for being suspected of terrorism, without the need for a trial at any point. That we have apparently completely disregarded habeas corpus for the sake of fighting terrorism should be astonishing enough on its own; this is legislation more fitting in a state like Burma than in a major European democracy. 

Secondly is secret evidence, whereby people are convicted (or control orders granted) on the basis of evidence which the defence is not even allowed to see, yet alone to dispute! This is often dressed up to mean the identities of secret agents or information that is of paramount importance to national security, but actually, it is often used to get ASBOs or other controls through the testimony of anonymous witnesses. The idea that people can be convicted on testimony of shadowy people who cannot be held responsible for what they say is completely illiberal.

These are but two of the worst of a litany of measures that have since September 2001 eroded and limited our civil liberties. Others might include the expansion of the right to stop and search, another by product of terrorism law, or the apparent collusion of MI5 agents in the torture of British citizens, among other people, in extraordinary rendition - torture, for those few not now aware. The main issue however is not any individual measure but the culture of control and surveillance that holds sway over those responsible for our security. The continued delusion of the West Midlands police is but one example of this. Every level of protest has been met by a sort of surprised indifference, like an alcoholic meeting a hiccup. The upper ranks of the Police desperately want these cameras and they are not going to let a simple matter of public opinion stop them. The Chief Constable seems simply to refuse to realize that until these cameras are taken down, people will continue to fight them.

Or will they? Salma Yaqoob, a charismatic and increasingly reasonable councillor from the Respect Party today led a chant of 'No More Cameras' that resounded around the old hall of the Bordesley Centre - once King Edward VI Camp Hill School. It was impossible not to notice however that the room was a lot less full than at the last meeting. Unfortunately, the main reason why our civil liberties have eroded is because we have let them. Police officers and politicians may often appear malicious, but they are usually just men and women trying to do their jobs - the problem is the powers that we give them are too broad. Old cliches like 'The Greater Good' and 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear' still represent the views of the fearful majority. These cameras in Birmingham have become controversial because have been so explicitly built in a way that encircles and stigmatizes the more Muslim sections of the city, but they were first questioned not by the bearded young men of Sparkhill but by the Guardian reading semi-detached people of Moseley, where I live. 

The Coalition government has been a glimpse of sunlight for liberals. Reducing the intrusiveness of the state is something that both David Cameron and Nick Clegg seem fundamentally agreed on, even if much of it will happen as sideshow to savage budget cuts. This newly ascendent liberalism is a lucky byproduct however of the inability of either the paternalist, authoritarian wing of the Tory party or the paternalist, authoritarian whole of the Labour party to win a majority of support. It is not, in short, representative. I have always said though that liberty is more important than democracy, and so I hope the Government seizes the opportunity to do some good whilst it lasts.

* I might say something soon about the disingenuousness of Government language - not to mention its sheer aesthetic awfulness. But it will probably be a ripoff of something Orwell wrote 70 odd years ago.

Also, if you've made it this far, thanks! This is obviously a lot more dry than the last thing I wrote, and mostly reflects some thoughts I've been building up for a while. If you've made it this far and you're bored and you hate me, sorry!