The politics behind the row over the terror laws
Matthew d'Ancona 5:35pmThe proposed anti-terror laws, as I write in today's Sunday Telegraph, are an example of how Brown will, to an extent many will find surprising, persist with Blair's policies. This particular area, as is clear from the Observer's coverage, is fraught with difficulty. Cameron knows that Brown cannot afford to be defeated in the Commons, as Blair was over 90 days. So the game is to claim, again and again, that Labour is breaching the political "consensus" on counter-terrorism. Of course, there is no such thing: Labour is much more authoritarian than either the Tories or the Lib Dem on how to deal with jihadis. But Dave's gambit is to present Blair now, and Brown soon, as the opportunists. The stakes are vertiginously high.
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Clothilde Simon
June 10th, 2007 6:35pm Report this comment"Vertiginously"? Now there's a cliche that could be given a mercy-killing. Think about why it is crass: "high" in the sense of stakes is nothing to do with altitude.
P Dawson
June 10th, 2007 7:31pm Report this commentCan't please all of the people all of the time, I guess. I read it as "dizzyingly high" and thought it rather neat.
Steve Horgan
June 10th, 2007 10:21pm Report this commentIt is the morally bankrupt New Labour who first sought to make political capital out of anti-terror legislation. Not only does this raise the spectre of short-term politics dictating life-or-death choices, it also makes the whole thrust of the nation's anti-terrorism approach less effective. This is about hearts and minds as much as guns and prisons. Nasty little political squabbles serve only project weakness, with a patina of cynicism, instead of strength and confidence that democracy is in the right. How can Reid and Brown justify playing games with this issue, even to themselves?
EyeSee
June 11th, 2007 11:50am Report this commentThreat? What threat? Despite numerous plots being thwarted according to self-praise Blair (and strangely little in the way of arrests from the thwarting), the fact is we do not face the threat Labour keep on about. Certainly the lack of humanity has been upscaled, as people craving attention used to do the odd shooting or maybe a small bomb. Now a total disregard for human life and a desire for Hollywood spectacular style stunts, is becoming the norm. But rare. When the real threat from the IRA was at its height we didn't need the measures Labour scream about for the whole population. Instead the criminals were targetted. A strange concept maybe, but it came from people who understood the meaning of justice. Now, a war on DIY accidents could really bring down the death toll.
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