Another draconian attempt to curb Britain's civil liberties (Independent UK)

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Another draconian attempt to curb Britain's civil liberties
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 27 July 2007


The attempt to prevent demonstrators from reaching Heathrow airport is the latest in a long line of erosion of civil liberties which started during Tony Blair's reign. But civil liberties groups hope Gordon Brown will mark a clear break with his predecessor by reversing the trend.

Their anger centres on the use of Section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act, which gives police the power to stop and search anyone in an area considered a likely terrorist target. It was used most notoriously to hold Walter Wolfgang, the veteran peace activist who heckled Jack Straw, when he was Foreign Secretary, at the 2005 Labour conference.

In the same year, John Catt, 81, was detained as he walked towards the seafront for an anti war demonstration near the conference hall in Brighton.

He fell foul of the police after he was spotted wearing a T-shirt accusing Tony Blair and George Bush of war crimes. The police record said the "purpose" of the stop and search was "terrorism".

Protests have also been severely curtailed by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005. Demonstrators who breach the perimeter fence of "sensitive sites" can be jailed for 51 weeks or fined £5,000 for criminal trespass under the Act.

Helen John, 68, and Sylvia Boyes, 62, both veterans of the Greenham Common protests, were the first to be arrested under the power when they walked across the sentry line at the US base at Menwith Hill, North Yorkshire. The Home Office originally designated 10 sensitive sites, including military and nuclear bases. Another 16 government buildings and royal palaces were added to the list last month.

Section 132 of the same Act requires police permission to stage demonstrations within 1km of Parliament. The provision was principally designed to silence Brian Haw, the veteran peace protester who has mounted a six-year vigil in Parliament Square. But a mistake in drafting means that Mr Haw is still in place opposite the Commons gates. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2809172.ece