I know, I know, MadTV is not a political site (Gone Away does politics from time to time though), here we normally focus on web development or frivolity but I'm afraid I must say something. The country in which I live is about to remove a corner-stone of justice and democracy. The ruling Labour party (think UK's Democrat party my American pals) is ramming an act through parliament that will allow the Home Secretary to detain people under full house arrest without producing evidence or even levelling an accusation. The excuse for passing this bill is of course terrorism, the Prime Minister claiming that we need these measures to counteract a threat unlike one we've ever known before. Which is one of my first objections; this country has lived with terrorism for over thirty years. It’s only a few years since IRA bombs were exploding in cities all over the UK. But now (when the figures for international terrorism are at a 25 year low) we have to erode our civil liberties to combat it? What’s the difference between an IRA bomb and an Al Qaeda bomb? None that I can see
Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not downplaying the potential threat from radical Islamic terrorism, I do believe that there are radicals out there who would happily perpetrate an atrocity like 9/11 on these shores but I am saying that we can’t fight evil with evil. If you gentle reader are British (or visiting Britain) this law means that, on the say-so of a politician, you can be held captive without means of communication indefinitely. The State would not have to produce evidence of your suspected crimes or even to tell you what you are suspected of. This politician could do this merely on suspicion and this suspicion could hold you for years without any means of you appealing to justice. Does this sound like the powers of a democratic justice system to you? Nope? Me neither. This is the most serious attack on our justice system in three hundred years. It was laws like this that allowed Hitler to grasp total power in Germany. This is a law so open to abuse it staggers me.
No detention without trial! We must be prepared to fight this with every fibre of our beings. We must say no to this government now. Please if you are British fax or email your MP now and tell them that this law is a disgrace.