Do you think Britain is becoming, or possibly is now, a police state?
967390
You are on one of my bugbears!\nI actually looked this up to be sure I wasn't wrong, and I wasn't. \n"Police state = a totalitarian state controlled by a political police force that secretly supervises the citizens' activities".\nBy that deffinition we are already a long  way down the road that leads to a total police state.\nCCTV cameras secretly supervise most UK citizens 300+ times per day.\nThe proposed ID card will enable thousands of workers in the police, health services, social security, local government, central government, the military, education (including colleges and universities), uncle Tom Cobbly and all, to have access to 50 (at the moment, but with the capability of extending the databases) VERY personal bits of information about each one of us. Once into that database, and we have NO degree of security of our personal information from any one individual or group that decides to misuse it.\nRFID chips implanted in passports, the ID card, even the bunch of flowers I bought my aunt at Tesco, enable tracing of our movements.\nMobile 'phones already enable any individual not only to be traced, but, with the use of simple computer programming readily available, and used by the government, to have their non-phone conversations, as well as their telephonic ones, to be listened to.\nTracking of cars is alraedy being carried out with registration plate recognition systems.\nThe list really does go on and on and on and on and on. \nWe are watched, listened to, tracked, spending habits recorded, spied on 24/7.\nWho watches the watchers? Why, they watch themselves, with no inconvenient accountability.\nWe are allowing ourselves to be sleep-walked into a truly totalitarian police state because, as is so often said in this forum "if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear". This attitude may well be not very unreasonable at the moment, and with a relatively benign government, but, and it is a really HUGE "but", we are allowing the introduction of ever more intrusive surveillance, supervision and control with each day that passes.\nFreedoms hard fought for and hard kept are being eroded daily, and little or nothing is said to prevent it.\nNo, we do not YET live in a police state, but we will. We will, and in my lifetime, due to the complacency, comfort, laziness and lack of foresight of the majority of the population, who are unwilling, or unable, to take a long, hard and critical look at what is happening around them.
231994
For more about England, and its Parliament, go to www.nraila.com.  Type England's laws in the search window.\nYou'd be amazed at how the average citizen faces arrest and confinement just for trying to protect their homes, families, and selves against criminals. \n\nPolice state?  That's a laugh. the police can't or won't do anything to curb crime, while the justice system treats the criminals better than the victims.
954203
You're the crypt keeper. The UK has 1 camera for every 13 people. Catch on you're a police state.
911431
It is a bit of a caricature, but basically it looks very much like a description of Great  Britain ...no longer great and no longer Britain, sadly!
315744
not really.\nthere are a few fans that desperately hold on to the past/image. but they are all gone. at least in the premiership. the police made it impossible
143134
British police force.  See http://www.jgkeegan.com/papers/paper3.html.  Also http://www.knowledgeoflondon.com/bobby.html
351297
Sadly, not for a while. The U.S. cannot leave Iraq in the state it is in. The Iraqi police force is not strong enough alone to take care of the many issue there now. Until there is a solid government in place, the Police force is strong enough to handle problems on their own and there is somewhat a bit peace we cannot leave.
744631
I lived in Britain and Ireland for a good number of years, and can tell you the situation in Britain is, if anything, worse than here ... they're swamped with moslems and illegal immigrants from mainly the Eastern European countries, and can barely cope ... the Brits are getting more and more frustrated, and I reckon it won't be long before things will boil over ...\n\nWhen Romania and Bulgaria join the EU in January 2007, things will get worse ... Britain is already the target of illegal immigration from Romania in particular, and after Jan 2007 these people can enter at will .. there are organized gangs of human smugglers in Romania who are also keeping their eyes on the illegal immigration and amnesty situation in the United States ... and after 2007, we can prepare for an exodous from Romania and Bulgaria into the United States as well ... so be prepared ....
930374
It sounds improbable that 4 million cameras have been installed.British Police might have installed some cameras for watching terrorists and preventing lawlessness.George Orwel may be crying in grave but situation since his days has changed needing hard options.As long as innocents are not harmed there is nothing wrong in this
489537
They knew SOMETHING was coming (remember that report they had in 8/2001, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack inside the US"?), but not exactly what. \n\nI do think Bush & Co. would like a police state, and are trying to get one. Now they are saying that congress cannot investigate the NSA because they don't have the security clearance to do so. Sounds like a free ticket to do whatever they want to me.\n\nOne world government would not work, there are too many ideas of how things should be run. What kind of government would it be? Some group, somewhere, would hate it no matter who was running it. Also there is too much division between wealthy countries & poor ones, secular societies & religious ones. What would be the consensus on, let's say, guns? Most European countries ban them outright, and would not agree with a gov't that allowed them. The US would not agree with a gov't that banned them.
1024591
No. Just look at them. Their riot police looks more terrifying than imperial warriors from "Star Wars", and even their normal police is armed to their teeth all the time and quite aggresive.\nBut most important of all, the current German police includes a large number of former East German policemen, whose job and duty was predominantly the oppression of the people and their opinions and expressions of freedom.
382004
yes, I have. it was that supposed letter among the English government about the invasion of Iraq.\nI do not know for sure what to think, since I don't live in England so I don't know as much as they do. But I do believe that Tony Blair is a very smart man so if there was a conspiracy I don't think he had anything to do with it.\nI think of it like this: England doesn't have an agenda against Iraq like we had. and plus, if England was going to crack down on terrorism, they have a whole mess of it in their own back yard, why would they go to Iraq unless they really thought it necessary?\nit's possible Blair was led on, but I doubt it. \nI believe that the weapons did exist and they were smuggled out of the country before the war started. I mean come on, we told them in advance exactly when were coming.\nI think the war was started for good reason, but we went about it all the wrong way and continue to do so.
757383
Immigration laws, do we have any, if so it's news to me. I thought Blair had given our country away, at least it seems that way to me.
480015
Not quite, but there is the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001....\n\nhttp://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/20010016.htm
867177
yes the country is ok its all the criminals in it thats the problem they are dragging your country down and taking it over, not a day goes by that the evening news in scotland isnt filled with murders and things happening down england dont get me wrong it happens here too and everywhere else but problem seems to have escalated very quickly down there
371784
Absolutely not!  I hope this nation doesn't de-evolve back into petty vigilanteeism!  We've all seen where that has led us before.
795176
In the last 4 months there have been 6 murders in less than a mile of were i live,a shooting ,stabbing ,throat slashing ,hit and run and a man beaten to death by a gang of teenagers walking home with his wife from the pub to name some...and I live in what used to be classed as a good area????so when you ask is our government tough on crime my answer would have to be No! I really fear for my children's future and would leave the UK without a second thought had i the money to do so.It makes me so sad that this country is ruled by people who are scared of doing the right thing because it might offend someone or infringe on human rights.Its time to put the law abiding honest hardworking overtaxed population first -please please please stop all this madness now !