Posts Tagged civil liberties
An addendum: the new ‘underclass’
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 01/10/2008
This blog last Thursday wrote about whether or not the government was pushing the public health agenda too far without proper debate on the implications for civil liberty. Apparently, this doesn’t seem to matter a jot to the Department of Health.
The smoking police
Posted by James Gubb in Civil Liberty, Health on 25/09/2008
Ealing PCT’s new campaign to ‘help’ smokers quit goes to the heart of a debate too-often ignored: the proper limits of state intervention in the name of public health.
Should Inheritance Tax be defended?
Posted by Nick Cowen in Tax and Spend on 30/04/2008
Yesterday evening, I attended the Fabian Society’s debate ‘How can we defend the inheritance tax?’ although it might have been more aptly labelled a strategy meeting on how to set-up a pro-tax alternative to the Taxpayers Alliance. For when I had a chance to speak, the only one present to deny the explicit premise that inheritance tax was morally justifiable, the room itself seemed briefly to close in on me. While responses to my argument were never less than polite and well mannered, the initial incensed glares from the front of the room gave the impression that in a less civilized age I could have wound up being sacrificed inside a giant wicker construct of George Bernard Shaw.
Middlesbrough police detain photographers on whim of security guards
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime on 23/04/2008
Crime in Middlesbrough is nearly twice the national average so it is surprising to see the police there have the time to detain members of the public for crimes that do not exist. Perhaps they need reminding that crimes (in a free country, at least), with few exceptions, involve theft or damage of property or the harming of another person. [via Samizdata]
We’re Nearly All Infants Now
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Education on 18/04/2007
The new Educational Conscription blog is chronicling the burgeoning opposition to government proposals to extend compulsory education up to the age of 18. The big shift in policy is not the increased availability of further education to young people, a long held and frequently frustrated government aspiration. Instead, it is the use of coercion, with the threat of sanction, to ensure young people comply with these objectives. Fearing that the value of their educational initiatives won’t be evident, the government wants to give young people an offer they can’t refuse. Hence, the correct approach is to examine this as a civil liberties issue – not as just another initiative in the myriads of education reforms.
The New Hearing Voices Network
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime on 04/04/2007
‘Smith!’ screamed the shrewish voice from the telescreen. ‘6079 Smith W.! Yes, you! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You’re not trying. Lower, please! That’s better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me.’
A sudden hot sweat had broken out all over Winston’s body. His face remained completely inscrutable. Never show dismay! Never show resentment! A single flicker of the eyes could give you away.
The government is expanding its scheme of ‘talking’ CCTV Cameras to various town centres around the country.