History Forum / General / British History / January 2006

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There he goes again!

Gans never misses an opportunity to take a cheap shot at the President.

Par for the course...

DSH

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There he goes again!

Gans never misses an opportunity to take a cheap shot at the President of
these United States -- or Dallas Patterson.

Par for the course...

DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Vires et Honor

Now Gans has crawled into the gutter -- worse even than Ted Kennedy or Chuck
Schumer and their savaging of Judge Sam Alito -- and accused Dallas
Patterson -- who has done FAR more for his country than Gans ever even
*thought* of doing -- with being an outright LIAR.

Ask Dallas about his Cold War experiences.

DSH
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There he goes again!

Gans never misses an opportunity to take a cheap shot at the President of
these United States -- or Dallas Patterson -- a man who deserves the thanks
of a Grateful Nation.

Par for the course...

D. Spencer Hines

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Vires et Honor

"Police stop and search 100 people a day under new anti-terror laws"

By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
The Independent [A British Newspaper -- DSH]

Published: 25 January 2006

"Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, is facing an onslaught over the
Government's anti-terror laws after figures showed nearly 36,000 people were
stopped and searched under the emergency powers last year. The number of
people stopped and searched each year has soared since the Act came into
force in 2001, when 10,200 people were stopped. It rose to 33,800 in
2003-04.

Campaigners will mount a legal challenge in the House of Lords today, as
they attempt to limit the laws giving police sweeping powers to stop people
even if they have no grounds to suspect them of a crime.

The Home Office revealed that people were being stopped at the rate of
nearly 100 a day under the powers used to detain a peace campaigner, Walter
Wolfgang, at last year's Labour Party conference.

Figures in a Home Office report showed that 35,776 searches of vehicles and
people were recorded under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which was passed
six years ago. Despite the high number of people stopped, only 455 were
arrested. The newest statistics, which cover the 2004-05 financial year and
do not include the aftermath of the July bomb attacks on London, represent a
record use of the powers since the Act came into force.

The Home Office insisted the powers were essential to disrupt terrorist
activity.

But campaigners warned that the law opened the door to discrimination and
could be used to suppress legitimate demonstrations. A detailed breakdown of
people stopped under the Act in 2003-04 found that more than one in five of
those stopped were black or Asian, while reports suggest a huge increase in
the number of black and Asian people being stopped since the London bomb
attacks.

Lawyers acting for the civil rights pressure group Liberty will launch a
test case in the House of Lords today, claiming the law breaches fundamental
human rights.

They will press the case of Pennie Quinton and Kevin Gillan, who were among
about 140 people arrested under the Terrorism Act at an international arms
fair in east London in 2003.

Ministers also face opposition in the House of Lords next week when Liberal
Democrat and Conservative peers will attempt to tighten the law to limit the
power of police to authorise blanket stop-and-search operations.

Under conventional law, you can be stopped and searched by police if they
have any suspicion you have committed a crime.

But the Terrorism Act, when sanctioned by a senior officer, allows police to
stop and search people even without suspicion - something that campaigners
say is a throwback to the notorious "sus" laws of the 1970s. Shami
Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, said: "This is almost worse than the
sus laws. The police have the power to change the law of the land in whole
parts of the country.''

Dominic Grieve, the shadow Attorney General, said: "These figures speak for
themselves. The powers are being used as a blunt instrument and it is far
from clear if those arrested are being done so for terrorism. "While we
accept such powers may be necessary to protect the public from terrorism, it
is vital these powers are not abused."

A spokeswoman for the Home Office insisted the legislation was needed to
disrupt potential terrorist attacks. She said: "Stop and search under
Section 44 is an important tool in the fight against terrorism. As part of a
structured strategy, it aims to create a hostile environment for would-be
terrorists to operate in."

BINGO!!!  A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR TERRORISTS.  BRAVO! -- DSH

John Catt, retired builder: 'It is very menacing when this happens'

It SHOULD BE. -- DSH

John Catt, 81, an anti-war campaigner, has been stopped twice under the
Terrorism Act. On the first occasion, the retired builder was stopped in
east London and police searched the van he was driving. He said: "I was
stopped in Shoreditch when I was pinned in by two police cars. They asked
ridiculous questions like where was I going and why, how old I was and where
I had been. They searched the back of the van and gave me a receipt to say
why I had been stopped."

On the second occasion, he was questioned as he walked through Brighton
wearing an anti-Blair T-shirt. He had been making his way to an anti-war
demonstration at the seafront, outside the Labour Party conference in the
city.

He said: "I was walking down Middle Street in Brighton towards a protest
against the war and so on. I had a T-shirt on and had a plastic bag with
some felt pens and some board because I draw." He said he was stopped and
asked questions, before continuing to the demonstration. He said: "It is
very menacing when you see this happening. Our civilisation is on the line."

Kevin Gillan, Student: 'They went through all my stuff'

The police stopped and searched Kevin Gillan as he cycled to an arms trade
demonstration in London three years ago. He will challenge the Terrorism Act
in the House of Lords today, claiming that it is a breach of human rights.
His case, and that of the photographer Pennie Quinton, is backed by the
civil liberties pressure group Liberty.

Mr Gillan, 28, a PhD student from Sheffield who has been researching
political protests, was among 140 people arrested under the Terrorism Act
outside an international arms fair in 2003 in London's Docklands.

Mr Gillan said: "I was within sight of the Excel Centre when the police
stopped me. They asked to search me and said it was under the Terrorism Act.
A police officer went through my stuff and confiscated some bits of paper
with details of other demonstrations. It took about 20 minutes.

"I was pretty amazed that they were using anti-terror legislation against
protesters. The law is giving an incredible amount of power to the police.
It is an exceptionally strong law. These are supposed to be extraordinary
powers, not used all the time."
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DSH

Lux et Veritas et Libertas

Fortem Posce Animum