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New police powers to stop and question

ARGUMENTS FOR:

The July 7 bombs and recent court cases have proved that the danger from home-grown terrorists is real. Preventing future terrorist attacks must be a priority for the Government.

During both World Wars we accepted restrictions of civil liberties, including imprisonment without trial and the internment of enemy nationals. The danger today may be of a different sort, but is no less great.

It is necessary to surrender some liberties to secure the greatest liberties: freedom from fear and the right to life.

Powers like those the Government is now seeking were granted to the police and the security services throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland. They contributed to the defeat of the terrorists there.

The innocent have nothing to fear from granting the police these additional powers, and their own lives will be safer as a result.
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ARGUMENTS AGAINST:

It has been a matter of pride in Britain that the police are the servants of the public, not their masters. This is another step towards a police state.

The police already have adequate powers to question any terrorist suspects. The recent court cases testify to this.

The requirement that the police use these powers only when they have 'reasonable suspicion' is futile, since it is they who will decide what constitutes 'reasonable suspicion' when they choose to stop and question an individual.

Use of these powers will be counter-productive. The majority of those stopped and questioned will be young Muslim males and the experience will alienate the innocent and quite likely radicalize them.

There were more IRA bombings in England than there have been bombings by Islamic terrorists. Yet no such powers were thought necessary here then.

FIRST POSTED MAY 28, 2007

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