As the UK administration implodes, the sort of idiotic ideas that might once have been swept aside by a pliant media can be now guaranteed to get wide coverage. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, is obviously determined that Mr Brown’s fall from grace is swift and brutal. Oh but the voters are going to like this:
Islamic extremists could escape prosecution and instead receive therapy and counselling under new Government plans to “deradicalise” religious fanatics.
The Home Office is to announce an extra £12.5 million to support new initiatives to try to stop extremism spreading.
What, so being an Islamist is like being an alcoholic or crack addict. I am not sure how Muslims will react to the idea that the more extreme representatives of their faith are somehow mentally ill. In a way, the therapy culture undermines what ought to be the most important message of all: that we are rational, responsible beings, with free will, able to take the consequences of our behaviour. Islam means “submission”: to challenge that viewpoint does not involve putting some hate-filled fuckwit on a couch, but by advocating the values of reason and freedom without apology.
The idea that our tax pounds should be used in some daft attempt to “cure” Islamic fanatics is frankly laughable. It also shows how profoundly unserious this government is about the problem. What next, therapy for “extreme” Christians, Jews, atheists, Communists, Fascists, Jedi Knights (okay, that was meant as a joke), Jehovah’s Witnesses?
When Islamic extremists are caught for offences of violence or plotting terror, the correct object of public spending should be on things like these instead.
It’s absurd and indicative of the disconnected from reality mindset of the political class. There’s also the £12e6
bribecommunity funding to Islamic groups to despair over. But I think the real kicker is this bit-In the future, we’ll look back and see this moment as the start of official segregation by religion in the former UK. This was the point when being a muslim (or christian, or whatnot) became part of your official status as a citizen.
It’s absurd and indicative of the disconnected from reality mindset of the political class. There’s also the £12e6
bribecommunity funding to Islamic groups to despair over. But I think the real kicker is this bit-In the future, we’ll look back and see this moment as the start of official segregation by religion in the former UK. This was the point when being a muslim (or christian, or whatnot) became part of your official status as a citizen.
The Muslims might come to regret the precedent this sets. If Islamic fundamentalism is a disease not a political ideology, then some future gouvernement might decide that in order to fight a disease you have to quarantine all those who are infected. And right-wing extremists are just as capable of stretching definitions as left-wingers. (Like for example the defenitions of fundamentalist or quarantine).
Disease control doesn´t have to worry about pesky human rights legislation.
In another of today’s newspaper articles, the Telegraph’s Longer Detention is about Saving the Public by Peter Clarke (the retired head of the Metropolitan Police’s Anti-Terrorism Branch), a false case is made. That article is purely about justifying the increase, from 28 days to 42 days, of maximum detention before charge for suspected terrorist offences.
His case is based on what is, effectively, a lack of resources. Longer than 28 days is needed to decrypt computer data, and to (manually) sift through the vast quantities of computer data that are possible evidence in such cases.
Surely, however, additional funding (for computational forensic staff and for computers to decrypt the found encrypted data) would be able, with manageable increase slightly over 50% (from 42/28-1), to provide the equivalent benefit without this proposed draconian reduction in the freedom from wrongful arrest for those (who are the majority) arrested under these laws and, eventually, released without charge, charged with non-terrorist offences, or found not guilty.
There are, of course, some encryption algorithms for which no amount of computational power could be expected to give benefit. However, those that can be cracked within 42 days can be cracked within 28 days with less than twice the computer power.
With the £12.5million mentioned in the main posting, one could buy an HPC (High Power Computer) with well over 100 Terra-flops of processing power and large RAM memory to go with this. This would, very likely, be a useful increase in the decryption resources aimed at such work. Likewise, for the same sum per year, one could employ and suitably equip over 100 forensic computer investigators. Surely such use of the money would be vastly more beneficial than spending it on the crackpot scheme referenced here.
The presumed benefits within the 42-day issue are almost entirely down to the choice of the UK Government on how to spend the taxpayers’ money: on reducing the need to imprison citizens innocent of terrorism, versus its other political agenda.
Best regards
Ian B catches the Government plumbing the depths of stupidity here:
I’m confused. What does the local communities’ ‘programme of action’ have to do with the residents’ religions and ethnicities?
Do Muslims drive on different sorts of roads? Do potholes affect Muslim cars differently? If the trees in a Sikh neighborhood are afflicted by Dutch Elm Disease, does that require a different cure than the same disease in the same tree species in a Mormon neighborhood? Do the city parks in Anglican neighborhoods need different playground swings and noxious weed control than the ones in Catholic areas? Do the fire/EMS stations in Muslim neighborhoods require different staffing and equipment than in Jewish neighborhoods?
Jonathan observes:
I suspect that about 90% will react the way my family did when Ted Turner said “Christianity is for losers” and the other 10% will carry signs in the street that say “9-11 Europe Your Turn Is Coming” and “Freedom Go To Hell.”
But then, I don’t care for insanity defenses to criminal charges anyway. Even if the defendant couldn’t control himself that’s not a good reason to turn him loose to not control himself again.
Nigel has a point. Especially when you consider the cost of remanding suspects. I think it costs an average of 400 quid a week for an ordinary lag. God knows what it costs for a high-profile terrorist suspect.
It’s the old, old story. Guy falls over and does his knee in and can’t work. NHS sticks him on a waiting list and in the meantime the Social pays vastly more in benefits than the surgery would have cost in the first-place if done promptly.
Will this therapy and counselling be taking place in re-education camps and will they be located near salt mines? 😉
Damn you, Oliver Salmon, for getting in re-education just before me!
Still, we seem to be living in a state where re-education is a tool used to subdue unpersons; where unelected prime ministers are appointed by the socialist Politburo; where we have an army fighting an unwinnable war in Afghanistan; and where surveillance of the citizenry is all-encompassing. Makes you wonder how long we’ve been sleepwalking!
History may not repeat itself but it sure as hell rhymes.
I think that you are mistaken about this Jonathan. It is not farcical softness; it is an extremely dangerous move further in the direction of thoughtcrime/precrime. Not just failing to support freedom and reason, but an attack on it.
The government will spy on people, decide whether they are in danger of becoming influenced by extremists, and offer them treatment for their disapproved thoughts. The consequence of refusing such intervention and ‘support’? Not being left alone, that’s for sure.
It is an approach that is infinitely extensible to other anti-socials and asocials.
Guy, no, I take a less worried line: I think this government is so totally fucking useless that any sinister intent is unlikely to work. That won’t stop them trying but it is all in vain.
In fact, I notice several things in the popular culture at the moment, and one of those – as suggested by those rowdy drinkers on the Tube the other night – is growing disrespect for any kind of government/other laws and initiatives, be they good, bad or indifferent. This is New Labour’s contribution to public life: an ever deepening of cynicism about government. Maybe this is a good thing.
This government idea is stupid on so many levels that I do not know where to start – so that has to be the end of this comment.
Praise allah, my fine young droogs………..
Could extremists be reprogrammed? Sure. Depending to what lengths you want to go, you can break a person’s mental will in less than two weeks, and reshape it in a short time following. But then again, this is the State we are talking about, and they (yet) won’t go to those lengths, so they will end up taking a soft soap approach, toss this £12.5 million out the window and not accompish anything. That pretty much sums it up, hardcore Statism cracks skulls and softcore Statism gushes cash and accomplishes little.
I’d say that daft NuLab bollocks is what’s doing the undermining. I’d say that 99% of therapists are rubbish, certainly, but proper therapy is indeed about choices, consequences, and personal responsibility for both.
Either this is the thin end of the wedge, (well not the thin end, that was a long time ago though I’ve still got the splinters), the ever thickening middle of the wedge towards the kind of fascist utopia dreamed of by socialists everywhere, or it’s a sop to those labour MPs who are unaccountably diffident about a further erosion of Habeus Corpus.
My money’s on the latter given the paltry sum of money earmarked so-far and the fact that it’s local government that’s getting it.
Still, it’s always wise to remember the old Blairite slogan.
Re-education. Re-education. Re-education.
I think you’re considerably underestimating the threat from stupid people blindly implementing dangerous ideologies.
Taking into account the numbers of psychos who have been released to re-offend,this looks like a terrorists dream.A bit of therapy,Taqqiya and Kitman and off to shake hands with the Minister of Rehabilitation.Who knows .even the Prime Minister?
Perhaps there’ll be a twelve-step programme for it. Can’t you just imagine a meeting in a church hall with someone saying , “hello, my name’s Ahmed, and I’m a recovered fanatic”. Trouble is they couldn’t have one for suicide bombers – except for the failures and wannabes.
Does the government think the Muslim authorities won’t object to their golden boys being labelled mentally ill?
If a jihadi following Mohammed’s injunctions is insane, what does that make the Prophet?
If this is a threatening mental illness (like alcoholism, O Faithful!), then the government needs to organize a public information campaign and to post in mosques and schools warning signs that list symptoms and urge the afflicted to turn themselves in for treatment.
This looks like a golden opportunity for voluntary action in spreading the meme. The poor, sick things!
You make it sound as if it was a bad thing. In fact, I don’t think I see a problem with labeling Islamism as a mental disorder. The proposed treatment is an entirely different matter, though.
This may work,if we can get people to start looking at moslems as a whole and not just the radicals in the same way that people look at moonies and scientologists,i.e. fucking wackjobs, we may have a chance to completely undermine their credibility and to stem their influence on the halfwits in government who can”t or won”t see the menace they represent.
OP- I am glad you do not think that harbouring bad thoughts towards the government is a mental illness for the DSM IV is currently introducing such ideas. If hating the state, empire, it’s wars and so on is a mental illness then giving the state the power to insert negative thoughts into the DSM as a mental illness – here is the beginning of that surreptitious insertion into the DSM which will be welcomed by some segments of our society – that’s the same segment that have think the abandoning of habeas corpus is a good thing. Once that happens the only solution is medication that will correct the problem. Problem solved. Now lets extend same thinking to somebody who hates his boss because he’s an arsehole or someone who hates the Queen or his neighbour. Are we moving into the business of pathologising strong feelings and opinions? If so this is a very dangerous thing to hand over to politicians who we know are basically the most sociopathological of all (nota bene Tony Blair) and, considering how many posters here feel disgust and hatred towards the government, they might be first in the line for the government “candy” when the government starts handing it out with one hand while the other holds the strait jacket out of sight.
Some very challenging/intriguing comments here which are food for thought. This is not in my natural comfort zone but I hope to get know you all better.
My only comment is, the title could have been punchier. Something like “Govt. pounding extremists”. We should do all we can, in these dark days, to lighten our friends’ hearts. The more puns, the merrier!