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Welcome to the fascist state

slavedata

slavedata

pfm Member
The Police Crimes and Sentencing & Courts Bill 2021 is proposing to clamp down hard on the right to protest and undermine democratic freedoms.

Finding flimsy foundations for prosecution is part of this. Under the terms of the proposed Act causing ‘serious annoyance’ to another person can be punishable by up to ten years in prison. Look at section 59 if you doubt me.

https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog...rison-in-the-uk-welcome-to-the-fascist-state/

FIRST THEY CAME
By Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out forme.
 
I mentioned this situation on the Good Law Project thread. It was blindingly obvious from the very start that creeping authoritarianism was going to be a major part of Brext; a key reason for it being bought and sold by those who so forcefully bought and sold it. Those of us who pointed this out were all dismissed as ‘project fear’, ‘remoaners’ etc, but here it is (along with the crashing economy we also promised).

It is safe to say Labour will not oppose any of this as they have a history going back decades of actively imposing or supporting right-wing authoritarianism. It is just what they do, whether in power with Blunkett/Straw’s attempted erosion of Habaes Corpus/unlawful detention etc right through to Starmer actively pushing the Tories far-right Overseas Operations and ‘SpyCops’ bills through the house. This party is simply not on the side of civil rights and liberties and can not be trusted. They are the establishment wearing a red tie rather than a blue one.

As such we are on our own. One of the few ways to fight this state erosion of our basic human rights is by crowdfunding legal action. That is where the Good Law Project comes in. Please consider supporting them as this stuff really is important IMHO.

Here is their last email relating to this issue:

“Other than at a General Election – an event occurring at five-yearly intervals that hands unconstrained power to a Party that wins a majority – a citizen has but one way of registering dissent at what is done in their name: the right to protest. Yesterday the Government announced its intention to legislate that right out of meaningful existence.

The legislative proposal comes in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021. It grapples with everything from road traffic offences to confected culture war issues like the protection of war memorials. But it also contains provisions that should concern each and every one of us.

Silencing dissent

High-profile protests around Brexit, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the climate crisis have been thorns in the Government’s side over the last couple of years. By and large, these protests have been peaceful and have acted as effective ways for people to express their dissatisfaction with the Government.

However, the Home Secretary, in particular, doesn’t seem to like dissenting voices – nor does she want to engage with the root causes of these protests, preferring instead to brand protesters “so-called eco-crusaders turned criminals” and to accuse them of “hooliganism and thuggery”.

The Government’s proposed solution? To clamp down hard on the right to protest. The Bill as it stands would give sweeping new powers to the police to restrict peaceful protests – including by giving them the powers to set conditions on the duration of protests, set maximum noise levels, and put restrictions on where protests can take place. As it seems to us, the very purpose of the right to protest is to enable people to register their profound unhappiness or strength of feeling in a way which compels the State to respond. To legislate so that right cannot have any impact is to legislate it out of meaningful existence.

The disproportionate measures proposed in the Bill also risk undermining the freedom of assembly and association protected under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.

It should worry us all that the Government has chosen to attack our rights. We want to fully understand the human rights implications of this Bill, and have instructed an experienced QC and junior barrister from Matrix Chambers to provide us with written advice on this.

Thank you,

Jolyon Maugham
Director of Good Law Project.
 
And, of course, the Government also wants to legislate to make it compulsory for student unions and the like to 'platform' speakers with 'controversial'' views*. So, as someone pointed out, a student union could be prosecuted for not inviting a particular individual to speak, but if it did offer such an invite, it could be prosecuted for allowing 'hate speech'.

* I always think of this as the Compulsory Katie Hopkins Act.
 
Well movements like Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter channel people’s anger in a way which, from the point of view of the elite, looks like a threat to the status quo. So it’s not surprising that they are trying to find ways to suppress them.

The threat of popular anger manifesting itself in action has been exacerbated by Covid, because the health crisis has brought to the surface the inequalities in the system we’re living with. It may be further exacerbated if people grow poorer in the next few years, due to Brexit and Covid. We won’t be able to take comfort from “retail therapy” and we won’t get consolation from our house prices growing. The establishment will be anxious that that could explode in unruly, rebellious demonstrations of frustration.

Don’t forget also that the lockdowns have shown that the population is prepared to take restrictions to liberty, or rather can be sold a case for taking restrictions. Indeed, not surprisingly, restricting freedom helps people to feel secure. So political powers probably feel quite confident about imposing this sort of legislation. The focus groups say “yes.”
 
What needs to happen is for people to come up with scenarios which would fall foul of this legislation, but which most people could imagine themselves doing at some time or another.

Something like: neighbours joining hands across the street to block a rat run in rush hour, perhaps.
 
mandryka said:
The threat of popular anger manifesting itself in action has be exacerbated by Covid, because it has brought to the surface the inequalities in the system we’re living with. Everyone will be worried that that could explode.
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This and the mass unemployment that will inevitably come from Brexit. A lot of people will exit ‘furlough’ with next to nothing and a real risk of losing their homes etc. That may well lead to unrest given the government have so obviously both created this mess and stuffed their own faces at the trough to the tune of £bns at our expense in the process. This legislation pretty much enables them to set the police and military against the citizens in order to protect themselves. It is not far off from what we are seeing in Myanmar or when Trump tear-gassed protestors for a cheap photo opportunity.

I’m not saying it is ‘fascism’ yet, the title of the thread is not mine, but this is a very, very dangerous step on the path towards it. All decent thinking people should resist all erosions of our basic human rights and civil liberties. Many fought and died over hundreds of years to obtain them, we should not easily cave into state authoritarianism. This government needs to be scrutinised challenged at every single step. Their motives are clearly not good IMHO.
 
An they're spying on our every move too in a huge fishing expedition:

"Two internet providers are tracking and collecting the websites visited by their customers as part of a secretive Home Office trial, designed to work out if a national bulk surveillance system would be useful for national security and law enforcement.

Details about the data collection experiment are limited, emerging via an obscure regulatory disclosure and a report in Wired, prompting campaigners to warn of a lack of transparency over data being “hoovered up into a surveillance net”. "

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...rs-tracking-sites-we-visit-in-secretive-trial
 
clifftaylor said:
I'm confident that Keir Starmer is on the case...
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As a human rights lawyer, his immediate thought will have been to the declaration on the face of the bill that the secretary of state believes the bill is compatible with human rights legislation. He'll obviously then have turned his attention to Article 11, freedom of association, and thought, yeah, it'll be fine.

Obvs.
 
Escalation beckons with protesters masking up, disguising or doing things at night.
Not for everyone, but there will be a few
 
cooky1257 said:
Thank god for the House of Lords....
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Ye gods! A capital offence.

narabdela said:
Can I take it that you meant 'Spelling Nazi' ? o_O
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I like your (accurate) distinction.

Generally, I'm not the mass protesting type and can't get enthused by anything to the extent of joining a rally/protest/whatever. Notwithstanding that, I believe that civil liberties should be allowed, except when gross interference of others' normal and legal pursuits are affected. Nor should any damage or violence be countenanced. Rather surprised that current laws are deemed inadequate, though interpretation and implementation of the existing legal framework may be suspect here.

To protest peacefully, certainly, but another way is to lobby one's own m.p., collect signatures, whatever. There have been some very disruptive and totally unnecessary (and irrelevant?) street protests in recent years causing disruption and damage.

However, similar situations are happening in other countries, with far more dire consequences and which are easier for many more unconnected people to align themselves with, but these are not countries which benefit from stable histories, governments or democratic rights and their options to protest are that much more limited.

I s'pose there've been destructive or obstructive marches/conflagrations here which have elicited some kind of positive outcome but I can't put my finger on one at the mo'. Likewise for the U.S.A. but there, similarities to G.B. in culture and social stability are different in many aspects.
 
It seems the new anti left wing BBC thing has kicked in as Mash Report has been cancelled. Could possibly be contributing factors obviously.
 
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