Sign in / up

* Posts by Dom

5 publicly visible posts • joined 30 May 2008

Miliband refuses to release torture documents

Dom
Thumb Down

The only weasel here is Davis

who knows he would do exactly the same thing himself. If you accept that some intel has to remain outside of the public domain (a seperate debate, but obviously some things have to be secret, ie to protect sources etc) then it becomes a matter of trust between our agencies. We don't have the right to take intel passed from the US and make it public (and vice versa). It would change the nature of the relationship. It's not a threat, just a fact. If you accept that this intel could save lives then you have a very difficult moral and ethical dilemna, though you wouldn't think so from the above piece.

I don't condone what went on at guantanamo by the way, but nor do I condone pompous tories carping from the cheap seats, or the self-righteous anti-American grandstanding above.

0 0

Brit trio convicted for liquid bomb terror plot

Dom

check you facts

To all those above, please re-read the story. They were found guilty of plotting to cause explosives. It doesn't matter whether it would or would not have worked, what the CPS had to prove is that they believed it would and were intending to do it.

Second point you completely missed, they were not found innocent of planning to blow up planes, the jury failed to agree on this point. Big difference. The CPS is entirely justified in seeking a retrial in these circumstances.

0 0

Davis increases majority, says goodbye to Tory front bench

Dom
Thumb Up

@ Duncan Hothersall

Spot on. There is a debate to be had about civil liberties, but this wasn't it. It was a sad piece of attention-seeking from a someone who knows he has been sidelined after losing the leadership.

For the record, I'm ok with 42, as long as it's subject to judicial oversight. As long as it's a Judge who decides whether to grant the extension (and not the Police themselves, or the Home Secretary etc) then I think that's a fair balance between civil liberties and common sense. As always, the devil's in the detail, and it's something that seems to get missed in all the excitement.

0 0

The New Order: When reading is a crime

Dom

@ Spleen

The question is not whether he was a nice guy or a drug dealer, the question was did he have a right to live in the UK. We can only speculate as to the reasons why he didn't. You can speculate that it was a piddling inconsistency, others can speculate that it was outright lies, but the fact is none of us know.

But hey, no need to let the facts get in the way of a good rant.

0 0
Dom
Alien

you're all over-reacting

Saying "the focus of the investigation suddenly shifted" makes it sound so conspiratorial. You could say that "the investigation brought to light inconsistencies on his application" etc but that doesn't sound so sexy does it? For a start the police don't decide on or investigate immigration issues, they would simply have handed over information to the immigration services, so the implication that peeved officers, deprived of a scalp, had our poor innocent victim deported on trumped up charges, is at best confused, at worst malicious.

The only people at fault are the people who reported the matter to the police in the first place - they should have known the material was on a reading list and should have exercised some discretion. Once reported though the police had a duty to investigate it thoroughly.

To use an analogy, it's like the police pulling someone over for a breathaliser (which they pass) but then finding a body in the trunk. Would you complain you were living in a police state because people found innocent of drunk driving were being banged up? (Probably).

... Though far be it from me to rain on the big brother parade. To say that the uk is police state is insulting to everyone who has had to live in a police state. It's sixth form politics at it's worst. It's Rik in the Young Ones calling everyone fascists. It's, as Neil Stephensen says, "the presumption that all authority figures--teachers, generals, cops, ministers, politicians--are hypocritical buffoons, and that hip jaded coolness is the only way to be."

0 0