Hidden and Forgotten
2009-06-20 23:30:29 -
Hidden and Forgotten.
'We have constructed a society which has great technical competence - and some of that competence isn't particularly regulated.
Today we have more fools watching citizens then observed terrorist, locally or overseas.
Big Brother fools HAS gone too far ... and that's an ex-spy talkin. 'We have constructed a society which has great technical competence - and some of that competence isn't particularly regulated.
Today we have more fools watching citizens then observed terrorist, locally or overseas.
Big Brother fools HAS gone too far ... and that's an ex-spy talkin.
www.heinzduthel.info
ISBN: 978-1-4092-8526-7
Publisher: Lulu.com
Rights Owner: Lulu.com
Copyright: © 2009 Heinz Duthel Standard Copyright License
Language: English
Country: Ireland
Edition: First Edition
www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/hidden-and-forgotten/7279856
For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything
secret that shall not be known and come to light... take heed then how you hear...
[Luke 8: 17-18]
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Big Brother HAS gone too far ... and that's an ex-spy chief talkin
The former head of MI6 has hit out at 'striking and disturbing' invasions of privacy by the Big Brother state.
Sir Richard Dearlove, who led the Secret Intelligence Service from 1999 to 2004, claimed some were an 'abuse' of the law. He attacked the 'loss of liberties' caused by expanding surveillance powers and described some police operations as 'mind-boggling.'
The former spy chief joins a growing number of high-profile critics warning that individual freedom and privacy are being seriously eroded by the Government's disproportionate efforts to guard against terrorism. Sir Richard was particularly critical of what he claimed were inadequate laws to regulate some surveillance powers.
Commenting on the massive surge in police use of stop-and-search powers in London, he highlighted the fact that Scotland Yard officers have carried out more than 150,000 searches since 2007.
This compared with fewer than 300 in Manchester. Sir Richard said: 'That is a mind-boggling statistic. That may well be an abuse of the law.
'I am a great believer in proportionality and as a citizen I worry about the loss of my liberties.'
He questioned the legal constraints on the use of millions of CCTV cameras across Britain, saying: 'We have constructed a society which has great technical competence - and some of that competence isn't particularly regulated.
I think the important thing in the UK is that there should be very strict legislation and strict legislative oversight.'
Sir Richard, who spoke out during a question-and-answer appearance in front of 800 people at the Hay on Wye Festival, was a career intelligence officer who joined MI6 in 1966.
He was in charge of the agency at the time of the September 11 attacks, and oversaw the response to the emerging threat from Al Qaeda.
Big Brother isn't working: How £500m of CCTV cameras does 'next to nothing' to cut crime
The millions of CCTV cameras on Britain's streets have done virtually nothing to cut crime, Home Office research has revealed.
Cameras in town centres, housing estates and on public transport 'did not have a significaneffect', a report concluded.
It found that the only offence that was heavily reduced by their presence was theft from vehicles in car parks.
The findings are a further blow to Home Office officials and police chiefs who have turned to CCTV as their main weapon in preventing crime.
About 4.2million cameras are thought to be operating and at least £500million of taxpayers' money has been spent installing them.
But the report, by Cambridge University academic David Farrington for the Campbell Collaboration study group and funded by the Home Office, said cameras should only be used in specific target areas where they are known to be effective - rather than the 'current broad application'.
Critics of CCTV say that improving police patrols or street lighting would be more effective, and that cameras can even increase crime by encouraging people to drop their guard.
A House of Lords report in January advised Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to look again at whether CCTV helps reduce crime.
When he left MI6 and became Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, officials said he would not be giving interviews or making public appearances.
But in recent months he has spoken at a number of events.
Sir Richard's remarks echo concerns voiced recently by terrorism watchdog Lord Carlile who criticised the number of stopandsearches and said it risked gravely undermining relations with the Muslim community.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee recently called for the state's Big Brother powers to be rolled back, while Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has condemned the spread of surveillance, particularly the UK's 4.5million CCTV cameras.
He said Home Office plans for a vast internet surveillance database were 'a step too far for the British way of life'.
Sir Richard said he believed the U.S. response to September 11 had been disproportionate.
George Bush's administration detained and tortured hundreds of suspected terrorists in foreign jails under the extraordinary rendition programme. Sir Richard said: 'I'm a great believer in proportionality, and while what happened on 9/11 was a dreadful and serious event, in no way did it threaten the integrity of western civilisation.'
Asked about Britain's involvement in the CIA's rendition programme, Sir Richard told the festival audience that MI6 would have sought ministerial approval of any cases involving British citizens or residents.
He said: 'The intelligence and security community act in sensitive situations with political cover'.
Sir Richard admitted he had been aware of a number of rendition cases while he was head of MI6, but claimed the Americans had not passed on lists of names. He added: 'Yes, I think we were certainly aware. I mean we were not aware of the detail, we were aware of some individual cases.'
He said he had known of no cases involving British nationals, and dismissed suggestions that the UK had run its own rendition programme to move terror suspects abroad to be questioned and tortured.
The former spy chief said: 'No British minister would ever have agreed a rendition action by us because I think the legal advice in the UK would have been that under common law this was very questionable. U.S. lawyers gave different advice.'
Sir Richard insisted Britain's position condemning torture remained secure, adding: 'I do not know of any violations.
'We don't use torture and in instances where we know that, let's say, a foreign government is not handling a case in line with our legal procedures then we would express our disagreement and our disapproval.'
TV presenter Jeremy Paxman brands Britons 'barbarians' for watching too much television
Somebody should have reminded Jeremy Paxman of the saying: 'Never bite the hand that feeds you.'
For this weekend he did just that - calling the public a 'bunch of barbarians' for watching too much television.
The Newsnight and University Challenge presenter, who earns a reported £1million a year, made the remarks as he promoted his book about Victorian art.
It is not known whether his comments recognised the delicious irony that his book, called The Victorians, is a companion to his latest TV series.
'I think the basic problem is that we are a bunch of barbarians really,' said Paxman speaking at the Hay Festival of Literature.
'Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in this country now. I find this very depressing. Very depressing indeed. I think that is a real problem.'
Instead he would rather see his viewers visit art galleries or read books like in the Victorian era. Paxman added: 'While people apparently have leisure time in greater quantities and book leisure time to go on holiday and so on, they have less time just to drop into an art gallery or museum.'
He had earlier told his audience that he visits art galleries wherever he goes and just a couple of weeks ago had been in the Walker Gallery in Liverpool - where he counted just six other visitors.
Modern day visits to galleries are such a contrast to Victorian times, he said, when painters were like the celebrities of today and people went to see exhibitions in their thousands.
Paxman, 59, began his TV career as a journalist and presenter in the 1980s and is the longest running presenter of BBC2's Newsnight, appearing since 1989. In 1994 he took over the question master's chair on University Challenge.
