Crackdown on Civil Liberties in the UK

"I don't destroy civil liberties, I protect them" - that's the title of an article by British Prime Minister Tony Blair published last month in the Observer newspaper. In it, Blair suggests that critics of recently-passed anti-terror measures do not understand the nature of crimes in the modern world. Blair writes "The question is not one of individual liberty versus the state but of which approach best guarantees most liberty for the largest number of people."

Thus begins another segment of yesterdays' Democracy Now broadcast. They're broadcasting from Britain this week, and this show gets into civil liberties issues going on there, and this is the transcript.

It's an interesting interview, as it covers the same types of issues we in America are facing, in regards to a steady loss of rights and privacy, that don't really have much to do with catching any terrorists. They, like ourselves, have been experiencing a steady progression towards tighter social controls by the government, that began long before the current terrorist threats gave them the excuse to make sweeping changes in governmental powers.

Both the U.S. and U.K. seem to be on an accelerated course to liberate those governments from the constraints of democracy. While they both continue to make claims of defending democracy and freedom, their actions betray their true intent. They despise democracy, yet they wish to maintain it's facade to placate the people, and give them the illusion of freedom. The "freedom" they actually speak of, is their own freedom to take whatever actions they please to enrich themselves with wealth and power, while treating the rest of us like serfs and peasant.

If the people allow this trend to continue, it won't be long before it'll be too late to restore our democracies, and have our governments work for us, instead of the other way around. Time's running out.