Welcome to the new series ‘Why You Should’nt Register at the NIR’, where we give examples of how your life will be impacted by obeying the ID card legislation.

This is from the Guardian:

TV Licensing knows you’ve bought a TV

Picture a world where innocent shopping transactions must be reported to the authorities, who can then persecute the shopper. Vicky Kennard wanted to buy a present for her mother-in-law and ordered a video and DVD player from Dixons. It was to be delivered directly to her mother-in-law’s address, but nevertheless Kennard – who does not own a television – was contacted soon afterwards by TV Licensing. She was told that Dixons had informed it of her purchase and that she must either buy a licence, prove someone else in the house had one, or provide the name and address of the person she had bought the video player for. “Surely under the Data Protection Act, Dixons had no right to pass on my details,” Kennard says. In fact, Dixons and all other dealers are required by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 to provide TV Licensing with names and addresses of everyone who buys or hires TV-related equipment within 28 days of the purchase. Otherwise they face a fine.

Guardian

Now magnify this to everything you buy.

Someone somewhere, or even worse, some computer somewhere, will know what you have boutght and where, and then will tax you accordingly. This is already happening without a national ID card; imagine what they will be able to do with the system up and running.

And now, this illustrates once again, the dangers of insider shenanigans at the NIR:

Officer sold secrets to gangsters

Merseyside Police say O’Leary’s behaviour was ‘despicable’

A policeman who sold surveillance secrets to gangsters has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Former Merseyside officer Gregory O’Leary, 39, gained information from force computers which was then sold to the underworld for £1,000 a time.

O’Leary, who drove a BMW with a personal number plate, admitted six counts of misconduct in office at an earlier Liverpool Crown Court hearing.

Mr Justice Openshaw said other officers would be “outraged by his treachery”.

The court heard O’Leary, who joined the force in 1985, could have made up to £80,000 from selling information.

BBQ

And there you have it. An insider selling access to private and sensitive information to the highest bidder. Now; imagine the NIR; the aladins cave of information on everyone. Imagine one insider who manages to get a copy of a large part of it. Such information would be worth much more than £80,000. Also, since this information is unique, every time this happens and the bulk data is copied, eventually it will be possible to create a mirror copy of the entire NIR database of biometric data. This data will never be out of date, since it is unique to each individual.

This sort of thing has happened before of course, specifically where the girlfriends of criminals got jobs with the sections of the police service dealing with computers so that their lovers could keep tabs on investigations.

You should not put your data into this system under any circumstances. As soon as you do it, you put yourself at risk, and of course, the more people who enter the register, the more valuable it becomes.

Finally, that BBQ article says that:

Mr Justice Openshaw said other officers would be “outraged by his treachery”.

Well, outraged is a llittle strong. It is a well known fact that ex police officers with friends still in the force check out people all the time. A little bird told me that she uses her friends in the force to check out potential tennants to see if they have criminal records or not. Once again, this abuse is happening right now, and the NIR will only make it worse.
Where is part one of this series you say? Why, its right here.

If you find an example that should appear in this series, email irdial@gmail.com

Voters Revolt

Brief Summary

Britain is embroiled in an almighty battle between “us” and “them” – the voters of Britain versus the new ruling class which ignores our views. Our elected representatives are under the thumb of the political establishment. The forces of bureaucracy and political correctness are throttling the rights and liberties of the people.

Slowly we are being herded into a police state from which it will be hard to break free. We must act now. We must force the parties to reform the system and give power back to us.

The British people will not tolerate this attack on their liberty. We must leave the political establishment in no doubt that at the next general election many will vote for the party which is most committed to giving power back to the people.

They won’t want to listen. They will fight to keep the power they have taken from us. We must therefore stand firm and use the power that STRENGTH IN NUMBERS gives us. We must send the politicians a very clear message that their lives are about to change!

The Mass Withholding of Council Tax

The mass withholding of Council Tax is one weapon at our disposal. It would be much more effective than isolated individual protests and far less risky. A mass withholding would demonstrate the number of votes at stake and the determined resolve of those taking part. The parties have to be convinced we can affect the result of the next election. This action will not be necessary if the parties accept that they must take steps to restore our democracy.

One to watch.

It is time for new labour legislation in this province. At present, it is too one-sided. Individual rights are being totally ignored.

We have far too many strikes in Saskatchewan, which could have been prevented if we had some politicians with a little backbone. It appears they are only interested in the public at election time for votes.

Controversial issues are not touched or discussed.

Unionized employees of the Sobey’s grocery store on south Albert Street have been on strike for six months. It is a great store with honest, hard-working and self-reliant workers.

[…]

If joining a union is so good for its members, then way should they be forced to join? It should be voluntary, as in other organizations.

If a union member is not satisfied with the salary or working conditions, then he or she should look elsewhere for a job that fulfills all expectations and demands.

Compulsory unionism is called “the new slavery” because once a union has been voted into a workplace, there is no going back, especially for workers who didn’t want to join in the first place. Freedom of association is lost in the labour movement and in its place is coercion of its members. Coercion is contrary to all principles of freedom.

The Leader Post

[…]

You get the picture.

And in case you think I use that article because I couldn’t easily find harsh words about the UK government:

From time to time I, like many of us, muse on what is wrong with the people who run our country. Are they stupid? Are they naïve? Or are they actually downright wicked?

[…]

Consider, for example, the likely outcome of possibly the nastiest Bill to go before Parliament since the Six Acts of 1819, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. The Commons has given a second reading to this Bill, which would increase the already great ability of ministers to bypass Parliament in enacting, repealing or amending (according to Clause 2 of the Bill) “any legislation”. The Bill would especially be used, if enacted, to import EU law into our own without any parliamentary scrutiny, but could be used for even worse things besides.

[…]

Frankly, these plans are so absolutist that one could make a strong case that the Queen should abdicate rather than give her assent to either of them.

To obviate that horror she, Parliament and the British public must demand a straight answer to a straight and vital question: what is so wrong with our democracy that Labour wishes so ruthlessly to end it?

There have been quite a few views aired like this in the Telegraph recently, by ‘Establishment’ figures, it makes wonder whether there was a time when the nobs could simply ‘arrange an accident’ for ‘here today gone tomorrow’ political figures.

The notion that queen should abdicate rather than assent to the legislation talked about is interesting – is it a veiled call for her loyal subjects to oppose the proposed laws? Like I say interesting, and on a day when the Guardian publishes a piece explicitely citing Marx!

The new UK Identity and Passport Service, spawned out of the Passport Service after the ID Cards Act became law on Saturday, has celebrated its birth by trying to stop people renewing their passports whenever they want to, whether or not the passport is about to expire. The change in terms and conditions has been slipped into the website without announcement, and is quite clearly ID card related. [The Register]

Basically you can guarantee that if your ‘strategy’ is to look for loopholes in current legislation you are a sitting target and being as useful as going on a demonstration.
The government are making certain that you will have to *fight* for your rights if you want to return this country to a free, peaceable, libertarian democracy.

Edit:
The IPS site now has the fact you can renew your passport at any time on it. But the points above stand, legislation can and most likely will be amended to suit the government – loopholes are pretty trivial to close especially so if the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is enacted.

So cock-up or a symptom of the endemic bullying of the Home Office?

Reading the UK dance music press for research at work I was pleasantly surprised to see one letter complaining about a “dressy ‘up-West'” club that required photo ID on entry, which the door-staff would scan and keep ‘for their records’. The writer of this letter quite rightly refused to give up their ID and didn’t enter the club, they also ask that others do the same as clubs will soon see the light. Sadly they also say “I’m actually all for CCTV and ‘big brother’ devices”.

Another letter is about Lush Life, an artist flying to the UK who was detained at Heathrow for four hours without any contact with the American embassy (he was a US citizen) whilst immigration made a dossier of his career and details including scans of his album cover, record contract and several pages of his rhyme book, which would be kept on file.

I hope these people will connect the dots between NIR, biometric passports and ID cards before it’s too late.

Finally I came across this whilst trawling livejournal recently.

Water cannon could be used to quash street protests (Guardian)

Water cannon could soon be used to quell serious civil disturbances on British streets after a successful display of their effectiveness to senior police officers. […]

What are the government going to do next that they feel is BEYOND DOUBT that people will protest against?

It could be an attack on Iran – the US talk has shifted from recent events to a so called 20 year history of nuclear activity (the ‘ we’ve tried for yars and this is our last resort excuse’).

Quite why a government with the backing of 20% of the population (max) feels it needs to pursue policies that it obviously knows the country does no want is beyond me, especially when most people want to just get on with their lives and do something useful rather than need to be bothered with whatever treachery and piracy the government is up to.

*They* obviously want a fight. But I still can’t understand why they want to go to such lengths to do it.

Talking of riots and such, the French riots are being somewhat underreported by UK press don’t you think?

Pan, tilt, zoom

Each day, as you go about your life, it’s likely you’ll make a guest appearance on at least 300 different CCTV screens. Britain now has more security cameras than any other country, yet their impact on crime rates is negligible, while our fear of crime is still rising.

[…]  ‘This is one of the reasons CCTV grew so strongly here as against in other European countries,’ says Norris. ‘It was centrally funded.’ The other reason was a complete lack of regulation. In places like Germany or Scandinavia a right to privacy is written into the constitution. Here, the only legislation that affected CCTV was a relaxation of the planning laws. […]

The operation has led to 100 arrests

The use of metal detectors to catch people carrying knives is to be extended by British Transport Police across the UK, the BBC has learned.Operation Shield was launched in London two months ago to target those carrying knives on the Tube network and trains.

Police with stop-and-search powers and sniffer dogs use mobile airport-style scanners to check passengers.

Since it began, almost 10,000 people have been scanned, 100 have been arrested and 68 knives seized.

The initiative is already up and running in Liverpool. It is due to start in Birmingham this month and in north-east England in May, and will eventually be used UK-wide.

[…]

You must take notice.

Unless you are locked in your own home, with the curtains drawn, expect no privacy.

Unless you subjugate yourself to any minion in a uniform, to any mechanical invasion, expect no freedom.

Unless you fight against this evil, expect no sympathy.

The truth seeps through grasping fingers across forked-tongued mouths… and dribbles away, unseen by the many, reviled by the few…

Ministers also announced that the new agency will operate a passport verification service so that businesses can guard against identity fraud by checking the credentials of their customers against the biometric database. The Home Office claims this could be worth £325m in benefits to business.

And the benefits to individuals…. ?
There you go. You will be asked for your ID card by anyone who wishes to ask. And you will be denied service if you refuse to comply.

This was tagged on the end of a piece in the Grauniad noting that the Safety Elephant will charge you the full price of an ID card plus passport, even if you ‘opt out’ of having the physical card itself. This is to make having the card seem like a bargain, obviously!

One notable thing is that the Guardian (not alone, but…), while obviously opposed to ID cards, appears to be doing nothing to spell out their danger. They pick up on minor quibbles, like cost, and ignore major stuff like unfettered database access to anyone who will pay! Government charging people for data-rape, and then selling access to the data!! Ignored!!!

Why am I surprised? I’m not. Just very disappointed.

So instead, be inspired. Remember the wise people who came before us and Got Things Done. Remember those who despised the way things were, the way they were going, and got up and changed them themselves.

Today, I remember Margaret Mead.

Remeber what she knew to be truth:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Can the Home Office be trusted, asks MP [Do we even need to ask, says Me!]
JAMIE LYONS [for the Scotsman]

THE Home Office was yesterday accused of showing a “casual disregard” for taxpayers’ cash after criticism from spending watchdogs.
The Auditor General was forced to issue a “disclaimer of opinion” on the Home Office’s accounts because of fundamental problems with them.
It led a member of the Commons public accounts committee to ask whether taxpayers could trust the Home Office’s handling of money.

[…]

And he singled out the Home Office for particular criticism. He said its accounts presented “such fundamental problems” that he had to issue a disclaimer of opinion because of the lack of audit evidence which he needed to reach an opinion on the truth and fairness of the accounts.
Sir John said the Home Office had not maintained complete financial books and records during the year and as a result was unable to deliver its accounts for audit on time.
The Tory MP Richard Bacon, who sits on the public accounts committee, said the Home Office had shown a “casual disregard for the use of taxpayers’ money”.
And he called for Sir John Gieve, a former Home Office permanent secretary and now deputy governor of the Bank of England, to be called back to explain the “mess” to parliament.

He said: “How can taxpayers possibly have any confidence in the proper use of their money if the Home Office cannot even reconcile its cash?”

Looks like we can’t even guarantee how much of our money will be wasted by the shennanigans of Captain Hogwash and his Home Office pirates. Avast Behind!

Look at the record of who voted for this shameful bill:

The Conservative Home Affairs front bench voted with the Labour Government !

David Davis
Edward Garnier
Patrick Mercer

Most of the Conservatives seem to have abstained, with only a few “rebels” actually voting with the liberal Democrats against the acceptance of compulsion to register on the NIR, and to pay £30 even if you do not choose to be issued with an ID card

Interestingly these include Adam Afriye, the only black Tory MP for Windsor.

It seems that David Cameron’s Tories cannot be trusted on civil liberties issues any more than Michael Howard’s Tories could.

[…]

http://forum.no2id.net/viewtopic.php?p=23712#23712

And the full list is here:

http://www.spy.org.uk/

No one should be surprised that the tories have voted for this; they also voted for the illegal colonization of Iraq. The fact of the matter is that NONE of these people can EVER be trusted. Democracy is hopelessly broken, and the only way for you to be free is if you TAKE your freedom by force.

All the MPs wailing about the abolition of parliament bill and how bad it is will no doubt cave in on that one also, secretly relishing the unlimited power it will give them should they come to office.

It is clear that Britain is being dismantled before our very eyes. What you have to decide is what sort of country you want to live in, and how you are going to make that country come into being. Its no good sitting trying to tweak the system as it is; the greatness of Britain used to depend on the gentelemens agreement that power should not be abused. As soon as murdering gangster garbage got elected, ie no gentlemen in office, the system could be used to roll out near instant tyrrany, since there are no checks and balances that can stop any law of any type being passed, including laws that abolish parliament, sell our soverignty to other countries and even call for the murdering of humans.

Clearly all the people now in charge and the corrupt system itselt needs to be thrown out and proper checks and balances need to be installed so that an ID cards bill, any bill diluting the sovereignty of the British nation etc etc becomes an absolute impossibility.

Nothing less than this will suffice. Otherwise, we will be forever beating off further attempts to enslave us, even if we beat the ID cards bill and anything else these nightmare manufacturers can dream up.

The first step is to completely disobey any law that violates our freedom. That means absolute refusal to enter into the NIR. Second, the physical and unauthorized dismantling of the nascent surveillance system, ie no more CCTV trained on public places, and no more cameras watching the roads. Period.

Failing to do precisely this as a first step means total failure.
Then we must create a document (watch this space) that outlines our rights, categorically and unambiguously.

If you are not willing to do this, and then live by it, then you might as well give up and allow Soviet UK to swallow you up. Half measures will not do the job. There is no room for compromise. You can either live free or become their property.

As you can see, the feeling is widespread:

And these are the people who have blogs…many people who are not detectable by the blogosphere are absolutely incandescent with rage.

From the linked BBQ article:

‘Background checks’

The government is launching a new Identity and Passport Service on 1 April, incorporating the existing UK Passport Service, to administer the scheme.

Interviews will begin “later this year” for passport applicants.

People applying for passports will have to visit their local passport office where they will be interviewed, fingerprinted and have “background checks” carried out on them.

Their details will be entered on to the database and they will be issued with an identity card, although they will not be forced by law to carry it.

About 80% of the UK population has a passport and all will have to be renewed within the next 10 years, at an initial rate of about 7 million people a year, a Home Office spokesman said.

Mr Clarke was not willing to set a date for ID cards becoming compulsory, saying it would depend on the rate at which passports were renewed, he told reporters in a briefing at the Home Office as the current plans became law.

So on Aprils fools day, the insanity will start. Note how Clarke says that the date for the cards becoming compulsory depends on the rate at which passports are renewed, ie the rate at which people register. If people do not register en-masse, the system will fail completely.

This is why I keep saying that it is crucial that no one register for this madness. Now is the time for the facts about renewing your passport are published, so that people understand that there is no requirement for you to have a ‘valid’ passport to leave the UK.

People are starting to stand up and be heard.

From my (other) favourite blog 2lmc spool.

One of Britain’s leading symphony orchestras has been forced to scrap an American tour, partly because of the “mind-blowing palaver” and cost of securing visas for 100 players and staff.

the cost of arranging the visas, estimated at £45,000, would render the trip uneconomic

For those in the US whose response is “fine, we don’t want any of those pansy orchestras around”, there’s also this:

Other agents said rock musicians, also fed up with the process and expense, were refusing to visit the US to work. Katie Ray, of Traffic Control Group Ltd, which secures visas and work permits mainly for rock bands, said some artists were now choosing not to tour in the US.

Of course, the usual rubbish emerges at the end of the article.

John Caulfield, the US embassy’s consul general in the UK, [said] “We are all paying a cost because of terrorism.”

Indeed, I remember all the terrorist outrages caused by rock bands and orchestras in the US. Oh, no, wait, no I don’t.

But Shadow Home Secretary David Davis vowed that if the Tories win the next election his first act as Home Secretary would be “to do away with this Bill”.

Lib Dem MP Nick Clegg said the Bill would “erode privacy, curtail freedom and cost an extraordinary amount”.

He added: “It is a monstrous expansion of big, big government.”

[…]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006140528,00.html

so in between now and then, you must make sure tha you do not register for the NIR. That no one is registering and the database is virtually empty, with people doing anything they can to avoid going on it, with widespread and vocal hostility and disobedience, we will make the scheme look totally pathetic.

Anyone who willingly registers  is now an enemy of Great Britain and the British people.

So now there is no choice. You must take a stand. Will you continue to be a free man, or submit to being a numbered citizen?

Labour’s manifesto promised ID cards would be voluntary

The battle over the government’s controversial ID Cards Bill has ended after peers accepted a compromise deal.Under the compromise, anyone who renews a passport will have their details put on a national ID database – but will not have to get a card until 2010.

[…]

“The amendment preserves the integrity of the National Identity Register by ensuring that everyone who applies for, or renews a passport or other designated document has their biometric information and other identity details placed on the register,” he [Burn’em] said.

“However, it also goes towards meeting the concerns of those who have argued that the card itself should not be compulsory at this stage by allowing those who apply for or renew their passport before 1 January 2010 to ‘opt out’ of being issued the ID card itself, even though their identity details will be entered on to the register.”

[…]

Do you see yet? The Lords, for all their worthy bluster, cannot prevent ID cards when the government agrees to abide by the exact wording of their manifesto. A card will not be compulsory, but you will still be tagged.

You know what to do. You have been told.

Sir – Danny Kruger’s choice of comparison, “Labour isn’t wicked – but it’s doing just what the Nazis did” (Opinion, March 27), is not only inaccurate but will be offensive to many.

Information that may be held by the identity cards scheme is strictly limited by the Bill and includes only personal information such as name, address, date and place of birth. We have always made clear that it would not hold sensitive information such as medical records, religious beliefs or sexuality.

Suggesting the Government will have knowledge of, and control over, your life through the National Identity Register is untrue. It is also nonsense to suggest either that “every outpost of the state” or private enterprises will have access to the register. The Bill sets strict terms on the limited number of public bodies with access to the register, while private organisations will be able to conduct verification checks only with the consent of the cardholder. The scheme also creates an independent National Identity Scheme Commissioner with oversight of the whole scheme who will report to Parliament.

Our citizens deserve better protection from the growing threat of identity fraud. Being able to prove who we are is a fundamental requirement in a modern society. The identity card scheme gives individuals a robust and secure means of establishing that identities are real and not fabricated.

Andy Burnham, Under Secretary of State, Home Office, London SW1 […]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/

Facist pig and holocaust 2 facilitator Andy Burnham spills out more doubletalk and lies in response to being accurately compared to the Nazis. Lets take it apart line by line…why? because you would think that these monsters would at least be careful about how they lie before they write to a national newspaper:

Information that may be held by the identity cards scheme is strictly limited by the Bill and includes only personal information such as name, address, date and place of birth. We have always made clear that it would not hold sensitive information such as medical records, religious beliefs or sexuality.

It might not hold it now, but it could do so with ease in the future, and if you refuse to divulge your religion, or ‘race’ you will be fined. Also, once the system is in place, it is a simple matter to start up a secret database where the unique key is the NIR number and the religion field and any other offensive totalitarian mass control field can be added at will.

Suggesting the Government will have knowledge of, and control over, your life through the National Identity Register is untrue.

No, you lying scum, it IS true. If you cannot withdraw money from your account without your card and your card does not belong to you, and you can have it taken away from you (deactivated) by a single phone call, that, by any definition, is total controll. Without money you cannot eat, travel or do anything. We are not that stupid that we cannot see through this particular lie.

It is also nonsense to suggest either that “every outpost of the state” or private enterprises will have access to the register. The Bill sets strict terms on the limited number of public bodies with access to the register, while private organisations will be able to conduct verification checks only with the consent of the cardholder.

This is another lie. How can identity be checked without millions of terminals everywhere? If as he asserts, people are demanding that they be able to ‘prove they are who they say they are’ in order to meet that demand, millions of terminals will need to be rolled out. Just to verify credit card transactions alone will require NIR terminals in every retail outlet. This is pretty obvious.

As for private organizations only being able to conduct checks with the consent of the holder, this is utterly irrelevant. The consent of the holder is moot if she is forced to be swiped to buy her bottle of stoli. This band of murderers not only kill people, but they are killing the english language. In particular, they are trying (in vain) to change the meaning of the words ‘voluntary’ and ‘consent’.

The scheme also creates an independent National Identity Scheme Commissioner with oversight of the whole scheme who will report to Parliament.

And we will all trust the fox in charge of the chicken coop.

Our citizens deserve better protection from the growing threat of identity fraud. Being able to prove who we are is a fundamental requirement in a modern society. The identity card scheme gives individuals a robust and secure means of establishing that identities are real and not fabricated.

THERE YOU HAVE IT! “Our Citizens” meaning ‘our property’!!

And for the record, the british are not citizens, they are subjects of the crown.

And as for ‘offensive’, I’ll tell you what I find offensive:

• I find it offensive that mass murder was comitted and no one is being brought to book.
• I find it offensive that ID cards more invasive than any other ever concieved are being introduced by force in this great country.
• I find it offensive that pathological liars, takers of bribes and slavering Soviet wannabes are in charge of one of the greatest countries on earth.
• I find it offfensive that the elephant eared clarke and his ventrilloquist doll Burhnam twist the english language and lie to our faces on a regular basis as if we have no brains.

That is what I find offensive, and judging by the intensity of the words being used at this moment from sources that are normally the most calm and sedate, so does everyone else in Britain.

Also, just when did this ‘modern society’ start? By my count we have been in the modern age since the 1920’s and we have all done without ID cards very well, in fact we have thrived without them.

The people who llived in countries with repressive ID controlled regimes have all fallen; Franco’s Spain, the Soviet Union and its satellite states. The writing is on the wall. Introduce ID cards and watch your society stagnate and then crubmle.

Further to all this, the EU has agreed on a technical specification for an europe wide driving licence, to completely eliminate all national licences by 2032. This is absurd for many reasons that you will be aware of, but the ones that make me mention this are the following:

In 2032 Britain will not be a part of the EU.

Any technical specification outlined today will be redundant in five years; planning a specification to be completely rolled out in 2032 is just insane.

No minister working today will be in their jobs when the process is completed; that means that the people who put this into motion will not be held accountable for its consequences.

It is very important that when measures like ID cards, releasing GM organisms into the environment and anything that is trans-generational and permanently transforming should only be done or passed into law when the people who set it into motion can be personally held to account for the consequences. Failing that, in the case where long term projects are really needed, like the channel tunnel, some way of passing responsibility has to be impliemented so that bad projects can be stopped in their tracks, and future governemts cant just say ‘we didnt start it, but we are now going to use it so that we dont waste the time, effort and money.

Gum Blondes

via wackydoodler

Law lords have ruled against 20 anti-war campaigners who claimed they were right to take action aimed at preventing the Iraq war.

The group had asked if a valid defence was available to peace activists who allegedly broke the law to prevent an even greater “crime of aggression”.

The case centres on action taken near Southampton docks, and at RAF Fairford in the run up to the war in 2003.

The five law lords unanimously dismissed the appeals.

‘Not a crime in domestic law’

Fourteen of the group, known as the Marchwood 14, are Greenpeace volunteers who say they should not have been convicted of aggravated trespass near Southampton docks because they were trying to stop an “illegal war”.

The same argument was also offered by five people who entered RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and allegedly tried to immobilise American B52 bombers which were later involved in “shock and awe” attacks on Baghdad.

A charge of aggression against an individual in a British court “would involve determination of his responsibility as a leader but would presuppose commission of the crime by his own state or a foreign state”, he said.

This would in turn call for a decision on the “culpability in going to war” of the UK government or a foreign government, or both if they had gone to war as allies.

He argued that the courts would be “very slow” to review the exercise of the government’s prerogative powers in relation to the deployment of the armed services.

He said it was “very relevant” that Parliament had not considered whether the international law crime of aggression should be adopted into British law.

‘Dangerous precedent’

Taking that step “would draw the courts into an area which, in the past, they have entered, if at all, with reluctance”.

Lord Hoffmann said that to allow “the use of force in such cases would be to set a most dangerous precedent”. […]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4855872.stm

Greenpeace have got it totally wrong. You cannot use force against the army to stop them going to war. Its like a mosquito biting an elephant in the hopes that it will stop it trampling a village.

There is no way that they could have imagined that their actions would have stopped the war. If they belived that, they are completely delusional and need to pack up and go home.

Did they really imagine the courts, which are an aparatus of the state, would side with them, when these very same courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute the mass murderer Bliar and the Cabal? Are these people really that naïve?

I have said this before; what Greenpeace, StopWar^† and all those other 70’s style protest groups need to do is understand the problem, and then deal with it appropriately. Kicking the tyres of a B52 is innapropriate. Gathering togerther 7 million taxpayers and getting them to withdraw their services in a co-ordinated economic attack, now THAT is appropriate.

The astonishing lack of imagination, dearth of oblique thinking, these are the true problems with Greenpeace and all organizations like it. When they have in the palm of their hands, literally millions of people who are willing to work with them to prevent an illegal war, the only thing they can think of is to march away the soles of their shoes on a Saturday, waste paper by sending out pointless status reports instead of doing what they need to do; dismantle the war machine at source; the taxpayer.

†Those idiots at StopWar are at it again:

Protests outside BBC studios nationwide

Tuesday 4th April at lunchtime

The Stop the War Coalition is calling for protests outside BBC studios and offices accross the country, at lunchtime on Tuesday 4th April.

This is to respond to the BBC’s failure to cover the huge troops home demonstration on March 18 on national news and also to protest the general pro-government bias of much of their reporting on the war.

We are asking groups to organise protests at every BBC office. We will be leafletting the offices with a copy of a letter addressed to Mark Thompson. […]

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/beebdemo.htm

I have some words for StopWar.

1. BBQ is a wholley owned arm of the state. Get used to it.
2. No matter what BBQ says or transmits, the venal government of mass murderers will not pay it any heed, even if it shows exactly what you desire.
3. It’s the internet STUPID. You can reach all the people of this country by using the internet; forget BBQ as a way to reach into the minds of the people – we have a new, frinctionless tool to use that works brilliantly, if you are creative, honest, and have somehting worthwhile to offer to people in the first place.
4. For the n^th time; DEMONSTRATING IS TEH STUPID
5. GO AWAY AND THINK ABOUT IT YOU MORONS.