3rd May 2009
Political Activists: Democratic or Dissidents?
Mark Hanson
There have been a number of worrying developments of late regarding the treatment of those who, legitimately in a democracy, are involved in the political process.
It became clear that the police were videoing and taking details of those who were present at protests, most notably the evidence of monitoring of protesters and journalists at the Kingsnorth Climate Camp. It is still not clear how long the police will be keeping these records on innocent people.
Further concern must be raised with the release of evidence suggesting that the police have set up a network of informers to report on those involved in protest movements.
Added to this, it now transpires that civil servants are being employed to monitor environmental campaigners and are then passing on this intelligence to the police.
Undoubtedly, for a nation to be secure in this fallen world, there does need to be investigative and sometimes pre-emptive measures to prevent crime and terrorist attack.
What is worrying is the seemingly pervasive attitude among the Government and police that everyone is suspect, and the increasing targeting of political activists who are not sympathetic to the Labour Party.
It is of utmost concern that the government now appears to view the “enemy within” as being anyone who opposes its policies. This is dangerous, and smacks of the socialism that engulfed much of the world in the 20th century.
Questions should be raised.
