Are such things done....?

Written to mark the Convention of Modern Liberty.

by Philip Pullman

Are such things done on Albion's shore?

The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake's prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today.

We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness - the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys.

We are so fast asleep that we don't know who we are any more. Are we English? Scottish? Welsh? British? More than one of them? One but not another? Are we a Christian nation - after all we have an Established Church - or are we something post-Christian? Are we a secular state? Are we a multifaith state? Are we anything we can all agree on and feel proud of?
Background

* £34bn cost of state-run surveillance databases

* Former spy chief says UK is now a police state

* First ID cards are to be issued within weeks

* COMMENT: that's a bit rich, Dame Stella

The new laws whisper:

You don't know who you are

You're mistaken about yourself

We know better than you do what you consist of, what labels apply to you, which facts about you are important and which are worthless

We do not believe you can be trusted to know these things, so we shall know them for you

And if we take against you, we shall remove from your possession the only proof we shall allow to be recognised

The sleeping nation dreams it has the freedom to speak its mind. It fantasises about making tyrants cringe with the bluff bold vigour of its ancient right to express its opinions in the street. This is what the new laws say about that:

Expressing an opinion is a dangerous activity

Whatever your opinions are, we don't want to hear them

So if you threaten us or our friends with your opinions we shall treat you like the rabble you are

And we do not want to hear you arguing about it

So hold your tongue and forget about protesting

What we want from you is acquiescence

The nation dreams it is a democratic state where the laws were made by freely elected representatives who were answerable to the people. It used to be such a nation once, it dreams, so it must be that nation still. It is a sweet dream.

You are not to be trusted with laws

So we shall put ourselves out of your reach

We shall put ourselves beyond your amendment or abolition

You do not need to argue about any changes we make, or to debate them, or to send your representatives to vote against them

You do not need to hold us to account

You think you will get what you want from an inquiry?

Who do you think you are?

What sort of fools do you think we are?

The nation's dreams are troubled, sometimes; dim rumours reach our sleeping ears, rumours that all is not well in the administration of justice; but an ancient spell murmurs through our somnolence, and we remember that the courts are bound to seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and we turn over and sleep soundly again.

And the new laws whisper:

We do not want to hear you talking about truth

Truth is a friend of yours, not a friend of ours

We have a better friend called hearsay, who is a witness we can always rely on

We do not want to hear you talking about innocence

Innocent means guilty of things not yet done

We do not want to hear you talking about the right to silence

You need to be told what silence means: it means guilt

We do not want to hear you talking about justice

Justice is whatever we want to do to you

And nothing else

Are we conscious of being watched, as we sleep? Are we aware of an ever-open eye at the corner of every street, of a watching presence in the very keyboards we type our messages on? The new laws don't mind if we are. They don't think we care about it.

We want to watch you day and night

We think you are abject enough to feel safe when we watch you

We can see you have lost all sense of what is proper to a free people

We can see you have abandoned modesty

Some of our friends have seen to that

They have arranged for you to find modesty contemptible

In a thousand ways they have led you to think that whoever does not want to be watched must have something shameful to hide

We want you to feel that solitude is frightening and unnatural

We want you to feel that being watched is the natural state of things

One of the pleasant fantasies that consoles us in our sleep is that we are a sovereign nation, and safe within our borders. This is what the new laws say about that:

We know who our friends are

And when our friends want to have words with one of you

We shall make it easy for them to take you away to a country where you will learn that you have more fingernails than you need

It will be no use bleating that you know of no offence you have committed under British law

It is for us to know what your offence is

Angering our friends is an offence

It is inconceivable to me that a waking nation in the full consciousness of its freedom would have allowed its government to pass such laws as the Protection from Harassment Act (1997), the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), the Terrorism Act (2000), the Criminal Justice and Police Act (2001), the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Extension Act (2002), the Criminal Justice Act (2003), the Extradition Act (2003), the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004), the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), the Inquiries Act (2005), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), not to mention a host of pending legislation such as the Identity Cards Bill, the Coroners and Justice Bill, and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.

Inconceivable.

And those laws say:

Sleep, you stinking cowards

Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms

Freedom is too hard for you

We shall decide what freedom is

Sleep, you vermin

Sleep, you scum.

Philip Pullman will deliver a keynote speech at the Convention on Modern Liberty at the Institute of Education in London tomorrow

www.modernliberty.net

Real Terrorists.

Are you afraid yet?

This may be one of the last legal videos we see of police harrassing UK citizens.

More about the reasons in various places:

Various Philosophies of Cynicism

The Register

Henry Porter at The Guardian

UK Liberty

Are you afraid yet?

The Convention on Modern Liberty

The Convention on Modern Liberty.

The You Tube Channel.

Are you afraid yet?

Just days to go before photographing a policeman will become illegal and get you ten years.

There is just a few days to go before taking a photograph of a policeman becomes illegal.

I predict the first arrest under these new powers will take place in around 6 weeks time on or around the 1st April.

This is about the amount of time it will take for the example of fear and control being set by the Cabinet to seep down through the zealous and bureaucratic ranks of the uniformed faceless, that no one with a camera on the streets of the UK is to be trusted; they are all liars and terrorists; or if they're not now they soon will be if we give them an inch.

There is a protest planned for 11am Monday 16th February.

"The forthcoming protest called by professional, amateur and political activist Photographers will highlight several of the Labour government's repressive policies, which afflict normal, law abiding people's rights and freedoms, without producing any tangible "security" benefit against terrorists or criminals."

Also more info and details via Mark Thomas.

Are you afraid yet?

Carry a 'Stop and Search' card - just in case.

Via the inestimable Mark Thomas comes this 'Stop and Search' card for use if you are.

Go to Mark Thomas or The Guardian to download a .pdf of the card.



Remember the UK State is now randomly stopping citizens pretty much anywhere they want. If you are 'close to a "government establishment"' as was Tony Ben the other day it is more likely to happen than not.

Are you afraid yet?

Let the War on Hypocrisy begin.

The title is a quote from a recent post by the inestimable Henry Porter when announcing the Convention on Modern Liberty which was launched last week.

We have just seen the unintended consequence of unnecessary, unlawful (sic) and badly drawn up legislation in the tragic and sad death of Andy Miller from Accrington who owed £60 for speeding and was forced to a cash point by bailiffs who told him "... he had to make a payment, otherwise they would bring a delivery van and locksmith. ... they said they would get into the property and take goods and there was nothing he could do about it."

This law was probably brought in for some other reason than killing citizens who owed £60 for speeding, but like hundreds of other laws sneaked in without debate or discussion, almost in secret by the Executive, the top echelons of Government, the Cabinet, it will kill us; it will make us fear for our safety; it will make us fear our Rulers and it will make us want to fight back.

The Convention on Modern Liberty is the first high profile movement concerned with fighting the overpowering attacks on our fundamental rights and freedoms being perpetrated by this most repressive of State machines and deserves your support.

The Convention comes hot on the heels of an increasingly vocal outrage against the fear-mongering which is slithering out from the UK Parliament, voiced by the likes of NO2ID, Liberal Conspiracy, Henry Porter and the Liberal Democrats amongst many.

This fight has become necessary by the heavy handed degree of State power, control and repression now available to almost any bureaucrat in the UK which is frightening, and if you're not frightened you're asleep.

I find it hard to believe but I'm frightened of this State, and I loath the fact that I need to think about defending democracy, with all its faults, against my very own Government who appear to have forgotten why they are there.But defence of democracy is our task, not the Governments which is why we need to act in whatever way we can.
I resent the fact that I am 'wasting' my valuable time defending something, Liberty and Democracy, whilst the Mother of all Parliaments swaggers and staggers into any of the holes they are busy digging and I am staggered that this Government have quite casually lost the heart and mind of at least one white, middle class, male, well educated citizen.

In the small arc of voices publicly raised in support of our fundamental rights and freedoms mine is very small and I'm sorry if I veer towards the sarcastic/ironic end of the spectrum rather than the reasoned/reasonable end but that's how it seems to be.

Support The Convention on Modern Freedom. Support NO2ID. Support the Libral Democrats. Support Liberty and make your voice heard however frightening that first step may be.

Thank you for reading.