Jacks Justice

Alasdair Palmer in the Telegraph picks up on the terrible bill going through Parliament at the minute. It has been heavily attacked by everyone who has spotted the horrendous attack on liberty that it contains within it. (In fact there are lots of attacks like getting rid of juries etc contained in it).

He notes; The Coroner's and Justice Act, making its way through Parliament, contains a genuinely shocking provision that would allow ministers to make an order allowing any personal information to be disclosed to a third party (such as another Government department, or a private company), regardless of whether the information was to be used for a purpose related to that for which it was obtained. Doctors have already voiced concerns that it means that medical records could be disclosed without the patient's consent.

Jack Straw, the Minister of Justice, now says the relevant clause will be abandoned – although he also plans to introduce a new clause with similar effects. The ubiquity of government incompetence may prevent ministers from creating Nineteen Eighty-Four. But it won't stop them trying.

Straw tries to defend the governments general surveillance state approach on his website. He just doesnt get it, which is worring as he is the Sec of State for Justice. What chance do we have!

This Government just sucks. They are just not very bright. In their leap to the future they repeatedly ditch the past including our hard won liberty. But as they say the price of liberty is eternal vigilence. Perhaps its time we fought back like the lady with the green custard who has just been arrested. Mandelson asctually handled that well with humour. Much better than his Andrew Marr performance where he waa back to his true and appallig self.