As the perceived threat of terror increases year on year, and every new attack, either realised or attempted brings further anti terror measures we seem to justify these further encroachments on our civil liberties on the premise that what was in place before was insufficient. The British it would appear have a deep loyalty and respect for the security services, any terrorist attack is of course the fault of the law and not the fault of those enforcing it.
My Washington Post this morning told me that this assumption is wrong. For years it would seem that the British Police have been failing to check people against Interpol’s database of seven million stolen passports, a measure that would help prevent criminals and terrorists entering the country. Secretary General of Interpol Richard Noble went further in the same interview and said that there has generally been a lack of cooperation by the UK police with Interpol, the international police organisation which coordinates the efforts of the worlds police forces in combating international crime, and that the UK’s counter terrorism efforts were in the “wrong century”. The full report can be found here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070901758.html
Passing new laws that encroach on our civil rights should only ever be used as a last resort, when we can be certain that without these extra measures there would be serious consequences for public safety. Before we get to this point politicians need to make absolutely certain that we are doing the best we can under the current system.
The reasons for this are obvious, firstly it prevents unnecessary encroachments into our personal liberties, and second of all no amount of new laws will help protect anyone from terrorism if the police do not use tools already available. Further anti terror legislation will simply widen the scope of possible abuse without providing any extra security.
However as politicians need to be seen to be doing something, and admitting errors will inevitably reflect poorly on themselves, the easy option is always to enact more legislation. Instead we should be asking tough questions of our security services, ensuring that they are doing their job, and that we can remain safe, without the need to give up the liberties that we have fought so hard to enjoy.
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