Hooray for freedom and democracy! One hundred people per day being stopped under the UK Terrorism Act. Blair and Bush have absolutely no regard for civil liberties and are turning once strong democracies into police states. Among the targets is 81 year old anti-war campaigner John Catt. This reminds me of the ugly incident at the Labour Party conference last year when Blair had his thugs rough up a Labour MP who yelled out "rubbish" when Jack Straw was blabbing on about why the war was so necessary. If you give people like Bush and Blair unrestricted power, they will abuse it as we see time and time again.
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, is facing an onslaught over the Government's anti-terror laws after figures showed nearly 36,000 people were stopped and searched under the emergency powers last year. The number of people stopped and searched each year has soared since the Act came into force in 2001, when 10,200 people were stopped. It rose to 33,800 in 2003-04.
Figures in a Home Office report showed that 35,776 searches of vehicles and people were recorded under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which was passed six years ago. Despite the high number of people stopped, only 455 were arrested. The newest statistics, which cover the 2004-05 financial year and do not include the aftermath of the July bomb attacks on London, represent a record use of the powers since the Act came into force.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow Attorney General, said: "These figures speak for themselves. The powers are being used as a blunt instrument and it is far from clear if those arrested are being done so for terrorism. "While we accept such powers may be necessary to protect the public from terrorism, it is vital these powers are not abused."
