THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Birmingham council and police must do all they can to uncover extremist subversion in the city's schools. All Islamist schools of thought are hostile to democracy
Sunday is Easter Day, but the pupils of 25 or so state schools in Birmingham probably do not know what that means for Christians. Argument rages about Islamist infiltration of these schools, and the exclusion of non-Muslim beliefs that results. There is an apparent plot by Muslim extremists to get their people into school governorships and install like-minded heads. This week, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, boldly appointed Peter Clarke, a former senior policeman, as his commissioner to look into the whole thing. » | Charles Moore | Friday, April 18, 2014 (Good Friday)
My comment:
"A weak establishment is letting Islamists threaten British freedoms" – Charles Moore
I, and many others, have been saying this for aeons. But we have been shouted down for being Islamophobic. But it is very refreshing indeed that MSM journalists, especially journalists of such repute as Charles Moore, are at last having the courage to say what we have been saying for so long.
THE TELEGRAPH: Members of the public will be given the right to nominate unpopular laws they want scrapped, Nick Clegg has announced the Your Freedom initiative intended to begin a shift of power away from the state to the people.
In an article for The Daily Telegraph, the Deputy Prime Minister says that “people, not policy-makers” are the best judges of which “unnecessary laws” should be repealed.
The “radically different” approach is part of the Coalition’s attempt to redress the balance between the citizen and the state, Mr Clegg argues. He says it is not for Government to tell people “how to live their lives” and that civil liberties should be restored and laws stifling businesses abandoned.
As part of Mr Clegg’s initiative, Telegraph.co.uk is providing a Your Freedom link to the Cabinet Office website where people can put forward their suggestions for which laws should be targeted.
In his article, Mr Clegg says: “Today we are taking an unprecedented step. Based on the belief that it is people, not policy-makers, who know best, we are asking the people of Britain to tell us how you want to see your freedom restored.
“We are calling for your ideas on how to protect our hard-won liberties and repeal unnecessary laws. And we want to know how best to scale back excessive regulation that denies businesses the space to innovate.
“We’re hoping for virtual mailbags full of suggestions. Every single one will be read, with the best put to Parliament. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Thursday, July 01, 2010
Your Freedom: Britain's Liberty Is At Stake - It Is Time to Have Your Say
THE TELEGRAPH: The state has crept further and further into people’s homes and their private lives under the cover of pretending to act in our best interest. That needs to change, says Nick Clegg.
During their 13 years in power, the Labour Government developed a dangerous reflex. Faced with whatever problem, legislation increasingly became the standard response. Something needs fixing? Let’s pass a new law.
And so, over the last decade, thousands of new rules and regulations have amassed on the statute book. And it is our liberty that has paid the price. Under the cover of pretending to act in our best interest, the state has crept further and further into people’s homes and their private lives. That intrusion is disempowering. It needs to change.
The Coalition Government is determined to restore great British freedoms. Major steps have been taken already. ID cards have been halted. Plans are underway to restrict the storage of innocent people’s DNA. Schools will no longer be able to take children’s fingerprints without their parents consent.
But we need to do more. The culture of state snooping has become so ingrained that we must tackle it with renewed vigour. And, especially in these difficult times, entrepreneurs and businesses need our help. We must ensure we are not tying them up in restrictive red tape. Freedom is back in fashion >>> Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister | Thursday, July 01, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: In the second extract from his new book, Philip Johnston says we must restore traditional British common sense.
When I was growing up, there were two common phrases that you hardly ever hear today. One was: "It's a free country." The other was: "There should be a law against it." They tended to be uttered by people older than my parents who had been born not long after the First World War and may well have fought in the Second.
These phrases captured the essence of Britishness and why those wars were fought. We were, or imagined ourselves to be, "a free country" in a way that most European countries were not and had never been. That notion of being free defined us. We were not people subject to arbitrary state power and we both knew it and could say it. Perhaps this first phrase was used ironically at times; but when I heard it as a young boy it had a sense of certainty and permanence about it. What are we? A free country.
The second phrase also says much about the sort of country we were, and are no longer. There were, obviously, lots of laws but they were less restrictive of individual activity. They set parameters within which the "free" bit could be exercised and were governed by common law precedents handed down over the centuries. We had liberty; we did not have licence.
Yet there were clearly things of which many people, especially older ones, disapproved and that they sometimes wished could be legislated away, such as the looser morals that were on show in the 1960s. You could imagine an old codger leering at a girl in her thigh-high mini-skirt in 1963 (when sexual intercourse began, according to the poet Philip Larkin) and saying: "There should be a law against it." And if the girl had overheard, she would have replied: "It's a free country, grandad. Mind your own business."
However, neither of these phrases applies today. We are no longer a free country, not in the way previous generations would have understood the phrase; and as for the demand for laws, there almost certainly already is a law against it. >>> Philip Johnston | Sunday, March 21, 2010
'Bad Laws' by Philip Johnston (Constable) is out on Thursday and is available for £8.99 plus 99p postage and packing from Telegraph Books. Please call 0844 871 1514 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk
Monday, October 20, 2008
Centuries of British Freedoms Being 'Broken' by Security State, Says Sir Ken Macdonald
THE TELEGRAPH: Centuries of British civil liberties risk being broken by the relentless pressure from the ‘security state’, the country’s top prosecutor has warned.
Outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald warned that the expansion of technology by the state into everyday life could create a world future generations “can’t bear”.
In his wide-ranging speech, Sir Ken appeared to condemn a series of key Government policies, attacking terrorism proposals - including 42 day detention - identity card plans and the “paraphernalia of paranoia”.
Instead, he said, the Government should insist that “our rights are priceless” and that: “The best way to face down those threats is to strengthen our institutions rather than to degrade them.”
The intervention will be seen as a significant setback to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith who last week saw her plans to lock up terror suspects for 42 days before being charged thrown out by the House of Lords.
It is also a blow to Miss Smith’s plans for a super-database to record the details of millions of people’s online presence, including emails, SMS messages and Facebook profiles as well as the controversial identity card programme.
Sir Ken chose to issue his tough warning about the perils of the “Big Brother” state in his final speech as DPP, days before he leaves his post at the end of this month.
He warned that MPs should “take very great care to imagine the world we are creating before we build it. We might end up living with something we can’t bear”. >>> By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Editor | October 20, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: The Conservative Party has been plunged into turmoil after David Davis, one of the party’s most senior members, unexpectedly resigned as an MP.
In a surprise move that shocked David Cameron, the shadow home secretary announced he was quitting the front bench following Gordon Brown’s victory over the 42 day terrorism laws.
After enjoying eight months of positive publicity and a series of recent electoral successes, Mr Davis’s move marks a significant setback for Mr Cameron.
The Tory leader will now have to deal with the biggest upheaval and uncertainty of his leadership since fighting off a possible early election last autumn.
Publicly, Mr Cameron said the move was “brave and courageous”. But Conservative insiders now believe Mr Davis has “lost the plot”.
The move stunned Westminster and shocked Tory MPs. Mr Davis acknowledged that he could be risking his own political future.
By standing down as an MP, Mr Davis will spark a by-election in his Yorkshire seat, where he will stand again as a Tory candidate campaigning on the issue of civil liberties. David Davis Stuns Westminster with Resignation over 42-Day Terror Law >>> By Andrew Porter, Political Editor | June 13, 2008
