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Sir Denis Thatcher, husband of Baroness Thatcher has died peacefully this morning in a hospital in London. He was 88. You know what they say, behind every great man, there is a great woman. Well, behind the great woman of the British politics in the 80s was this great man… Update: Here is obituary published in the Guardian. June 26th, 2003 | 40 comments - (Comments are closed)
 European Union agriculture ministers have agreed radical reforms to the controversial system of paying subsidies to farmers. They promise to slash the monstrous bill of 43bn euro ($50) that EU countries’ taxpayers have to foot in order to subsidise ehem…French… ehem… farmers. EU farm commissioner Franz Fischler, who first proposed the reforms, said the accord marked “the start of a new era” and would fundamentally change the 45-year old Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Is this encouraging? We do not think so. And neither does the BBC. Shock, horror. Cast your eye over the deal and note it has as many (loop)holes as Swiss cheese (which, by the way, is produced without EU subsidies). I would like to draw your attention to the point 3.
So the end of EUcrats meddling in agriculture in nowhere in sight. The ‘reform’ is merely a cosmetic rejuggling of CAP’s inefficiencies and vast bureaucracy induced by the wide-spread criticism of the policy for distorting global trade and hurting poor countries. The subsidies have been the key sticking point in agreeing the next round of global trade talks directly opposing the EU child-like and visionary drive for ‘global influence’ as a counterpart to the US. Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.
Guess who said that? Gerd Sonnleitner, head of Germany’s farmers union. He got that right but I doubt he will see the light on the other side of the EU fence.  June 26th, 2003 | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)
BBC reports that Home Secretary David Blunkett is to give details on how two million people are about to be listed on a national DNA crime database. The government originally said in 2000 that it wanted to have three million personal profiles on the system by 2004. This was thought to be the whole of the “criminal class”. The arguments for such a national database are new figures that suggest it is increasingly obvious DNA evidence can be a potent weapon against all categories of crime. The last three years have seen a 50% increase in the crimes solved using DNA samples. At the moment, only those charged with an offence have their samples taken, but the government’s Criminal Justice Bill plans to give police powers to take samples from anybody who has been arrested. Both civil liberties campaigners and some scientists warn that with a potentially vast database, the possibility of somebody being wrongly linked to a crime would grow. DNA evidence is not infallible, with forensic experts evidence referring to the probability of match rather than a definite match.  June 25th, 2003 | Comments are closed
Mr Prodi is not amused. The UK government’s decision on the euro had disappointed him. Oh dear. He probably can’t wait to get his hands on UK affairs himself. The EU chief also reckons that it was a signal of deep political problems. He is right there. The EU has deep political problems. No wait, he meant the UK – it appears that he doubts the wisdom of the direction our reverent Tony Blair has taken over the euro. Prodi acknowledged that Tony might have had a tough time winning a referendum but he said he did not know whether the prime minister’s decision was due to political wisdom or a lack of courage. Of course, Prodi does not worry about referendums, you just keep having them until they say ‘yes’. And finally, Mr Prodi warns that Britain cannot remain half in and half out of Europe. Oh good. Let’s get out then… June 25th, 2003 | 13 comments - (Comments are closed)
New Scientist has an article about the launch of a global internet laboratory, PlanetLab, that simulates tens of thousands of virtual users at more than 60 companies and universities. It will be used to test new weapons for fighting internet worms and to develop better distributed computer programs, i.e. those that operate on many machines at once. It will also be used to engineer smarter protocols for the next-generation internet. Shankar Sastry, at UC Berkeley says:
This is wonderful stuff. I am not an expert and cannot tell whether these kind of simulations can be accurate enough to be relevant to the real world battle for cyber-security. Probably yes. What I love about it is people coming together pushing the bounderies of technological progress. Never satisfied with the cutting edge, always reaching for the bleeding edge. That is part of our Western capitalist tradition. The occasion of this unexpected eulogy to technology and progress was this bit of news read in the conjuction with the above article:
This is bad news, not because Mullah Omar is frightening me, but because more deluded young muslims will latch onto his fundamentalist railings and die needlessly. What struck me was that this raving fundo uses audio tapes to broadcast his callings for jihad and extermination of Westerners. The technology would probably have never been invented had his ilk had their way. It is the very civilisation and culture he fights so benightedly, that enables him to be heard and spread his poisonous propaganda. Fortunately, Western civilisation fosters progress and innovation and will in the end win the unequal battle. June 24th, 2003 | 8 comments - (Comments are closed)
A refreshingly straightforward opinion piece that I came across while searching the Telegraph’s site for their morsels on civil liberties and ID cards. It was written in December 2002 based on an interview with Matthias Kelly QC, new chairman of the Bar Council. It sounds as relevant now, if not more:
As mentioned already, this was written in December 2002 and contains a reference to the end of an unadvertised consultation period. Is this the same one as the one that is nearing the end now? Is it another one in the spirit of we keep having ‘consultation periods’ until we get our way? And the final words ring true to our finely tuned White Rose ears:
June 24th, 2003 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
An observant reader told us of what he saw in Bristol when staying at a hotel there last weekend. A notice in the Travel Inn proclaims words to the following effect:
Our gentle reader’s reaction?
Can you tell he was not impressed? This is a well spotted ‘minor’ occurrence. No police state can maintain its hold over society without its little helpers, who function, not exactly as the hand of the state, but certainly its ‘dainty’ prying and sticky fingers, deep in the everyday life of those around them. They exist in every society and although Britain is not a police state, I would not want to underestimate their reach, especially given the current government policies in the UK. Big Brother seems to have many cousins… June 24th, 2003 | One comment - (Comments are closed)
Guardian argues that the key question about ID cards is not whether we have to carry them but what will be on the national database:
Some commenters have already complained about the bovine and passive nature of the British public, so this should just confirm their views:
Also, an earlier Observer article calls for outright abandonment of the whole idea of identity cards:
June 23rd, 2003 | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)
Guardian has an interview with Beverley Hughes, Home Office minister for immigration, about asylum centres, entitlement cards, and the future for refugees in the UK. Here is the section about entitlement cards, the New Labour pseudonym for identity cards. (Well, the Tories seem to be pushing them also…):
June 23rd, 2003 | One comment - (Comments are closed)
With the assistance of several notable bloggers, namely Perry de Havilland and Dissident Frogman, I have set up a protest blog collective called White Rose. The original impetus came from an article about imminent introduction of identity cards in Britain which scared the hell out of me, and so I decided it is time to rally the Anglosphere behind resistance to the accelerating destruction of personal liberty in the UK. White Rose will point a finger at the British government’s measures eroding personal freedom. All the time. With as many people helping as possible. It is not an exclusively libertarian project and we welcome regular contributions, from bloggers and non-bloggers alike, across the political spectrum. The only requirement is a refusal to tolerate the draconian nature of the state’s reach over the individual. The format is that of a one-stop-shop for news, analysis, ideas, concepts and arguments, information and contacts related to privacy and civil liberties. The focus will be on the situation in the UK but any contributors who can point at similar cases and experiences in their countries will form an essential input in the debate. The objective is to discuss alternative solutions and halt the drive for security undermining personal freedom and privacy. To read the White Rose argument about why the debate should not be framed around the trade-off between freedom and security, please go here. If you want to find out how to become a White Rose contributor, please go here.  June 23rd, 2003 | 19 comments - (Comments are closed)
Welcome to White Rose, a protest blog collective which looks at the issue of personal freedom and privacy and their erosion in the UK. Why another blog when Samizdata.net has been increasingly drawing attention to the undermining of individual freedom and privacy? The reason is in the differing objectives. Samizdata.net is about meta-context and changing the way people view their world. White Rose is about bringing together people from across the political spectrum to oppose invasive government, with specific focus on civil liberties. Its aim is to stimulate debate, offer practical ways to oppose and resist measures that deny personal liberty and encourage practical alternatives to problems that do not abridge individual’s freedom. During the last year and a half I have become more aware, and more concerned with the stealthy New Labour transformation of the country that I have come to respect and admire. Many qualities of venerable British institutions have been ‘reformed’ out of recognition and, in my opinion, certainly not for the better. Another disturbing factor is the lack of awareness by the British public of the fundamental changes that their country has been undergoing and the dire consequences these will have on their lives and personal freedom. Some of the changes originate within the successive governments’ toxic mixture of discredited ideologies and spineless disregard for truth and reality. New Labour, however, has perfected the ‘virtual reality politics’ where facts are spinned until they fit their world-view and policies. Other tectonic changes to the fabric of British society are coming from the EU and reinforced by the government’s drive to let EU engulf the UK. There are worthy organisations such as Privacy International, Liberty, Statewatch and others, who have been campaigning for the protection of civil liberties and fighting the good fight on a daily basis. We bow to their expertise and presence in the mainstream media and do not intend to duplicate their labours. Nevertheless, we would like to offer them a higher soapbox on which to stand in the blogosphere. Having been an editor and contributor to Samizdata.net for some time, I have experienced first hand the scope and power of the blogosphere. By power, I mean the blogosphere’s ability to spread ideas, concepts and generate debate. In Samizdataspeak – its meme distribution potential. Recently there have been examples of bloggers reaching into the ‘real world’ but however gratifying this may be, I would not want to base my expectations of White Rose’s success on them. The idea is to harness the interest of those individuals in the blogosphere (both bloggers and their audiences) who are concerned about erosion of civil liberties by the state. Our objective, ambitious though it may be, is to create a platform and a resource that may eventually extend its reach well beyond the blogosphere. The motivation is to rally the Anglo part of the blogosphere to chronicle what is happening in the UK and help us make our voices heard. Again, why did we not choose to do this on Samizdata.net? Because it has a particular character and personality, with clearly stated opinions, which may not be palatable to everyone. In fact, we know they are not. However, in this battle we need people from across the political spectrum who oppose the state’s heavy handed imposition on individual freedom. Please join us here on White Rose.  Contributing bloggers can either post here exclusively or cross-post, linking back to original articles on their blogs. That means you can blog as normal and there is no the dilemma of posting either to White Rose or your own blog… you can do both. If things go well, the extra exposure from White Rose could be considerable… The objective is to extend White Rose’s contributors’ reach beyond the blogosphere into the mainstream debate. White Rose editors are God and God moves in mysterious ways. We welcome erudite and interesting contributions but would like to avoid rants, sweeping generalisations and unfounded statements. Please help us to make a good case against the government’s attempts to strengthen its hold over the civil society. Contact: email Gabriel Syme at gabriel at samizdata dot net or Perry at pdeh at samizdata dot net. June 23rd, 2003 | 11 comments - (Comments are closed)
ZDNet has an update on the ID card situation. The Home Office has disclosed that 4,856 people sent emails via Stand’s Web site that opposed the introduction of entitlement cards, but the final result of the consultation hasn’t yet been revealed. The government is still refusing to disclose the result of its public consultation on the introduction of entitlement cards, even though the process closed over five months ago, it has emerged. The government has said that entitlement cards, which would include an individual’s personal details and possibly also biometric data, will help to prevent identity fraud and illegal workers. They are likely to cost upwards of £1.5bn to introduce — most of which would go to technology companies. Opponents, though, claim that they will actually work as ID cards. Civil liberty groups Stand and Privacy International’s efforts resulted in almost 6,000 people taking part in the consultation through the organisations’ specially created Web site and phone lines. Statements made by government ministers since the consultation closed had implied that these 6,000 responses might be bundled together into a single petition and not treated as individual views. June 22nd, 2003 | 3 comments - (Comments are closed)
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