Liberty going down

The rightly respected Henry Porter has set out his thoughts on why, in terms of civil liberties, we've never had it so bad, see HERE. It was Harold Macmillan who used the phrase “you've never had it so good” in 1957. At that time the UK was still recovering from the effects of WW2. Many people had suffered in the depression of the pre-war years and by the mid-1950s were desperate for a better life. Now, 50 years later, it is formally recognised that the good years, fought for and worked towards by so many ordinary people, have been replaced with a sustained period of decline of liberty. Porter is specific in his condemnation, Home Secretaries: Jack Straw, David Blunkett, Charles Clarke, and John Reid are blamed. Clarke is given special treatment by Porter due to an article the former wrote recently and reached through the link above.

Porter knows his subject well and gives defined examples with plenty of detail to reinforce his point. Put simply the situation we are in is not due to some accident, misunderstanding or even incompetence, it is wholly due to malevolence on the part of these men.

The fury of Porter, like his position as the foremost reporter in the UK on this subject, is impressive. It is an inconvenient truth for some people such as recent Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, current incumbent Alan Johnson and others, to admit this state of affairs has come about. This is akin to pretending that the most memorable feature of the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a strong smell of fresh paint. It is pathetic, a criticism also levelled by Porter at Clarke!