Right to Dissent

For many the acts or terrorists are so heinous, such a threat to civilised society, that any measures  that might thwart their evil deeds is fully justifiable. Under this blanket of fear the Government gets a free ride to introduce its innocuous sounding IPB, Investigatory Powers Bill, better and more correctly known as the snoopers charter. A Bill which grants powers that the European Court of Justice has already stated contravene basic human rights. The Government is granting itself the right to open, read and store any electronic communication it chooses, from anyone to anyone. A blanket right to listen to phone calls, read EMails, anything sent electronically is open book to them.

Totally justifiable you might say if it stops another terrorists attack that we have been warned to expect any minute. Except of course a terrorist to one party is a freedom fighter to another party. All depends on your point of view. The Establishment, the upholder of the status quo, gets to label all dissent against it. Any group of people that gather and agree to disagree with the Establishment will be labelled but that label can range from 'protesters' to 'pickets' to 'mob' to 'uprising' to 'revolution' and so on all the way out to the extreme fringes. What we do know is that the Establishment will always seeks ways to supress dissent, any dissent. The only possible restraint will be their perception of public support and how far they expect to be able to 'manage' it. By manage we mean of course to bend, swerve, falsify, distort events and news to shift perceptions.

With this snoopers charter the Establishment, our Government elected to serve us, has given itself powers which enable it to monitor all dissent from what ever source and for what ever motive. Anything that suggests it is contrary to Government intentions, will be flagged. Once flagged, all participants, all associates of participants, all previously contacts of participants will be scrutinised for possible intents. All their past and present actions and comments will be reviewed in the light of possible threat, signs of contrary thoughts, evidence of lack of support for the Government aspirations and will be re-examined for assumed indicators of future actions. The data mining, the algorithms, the 'Case Officer'  will be working with so much information there will no scope for subtleties, for nuances or even common sense. So that jest, that floating of an idea, that game of devils advocate, that day dreaming, that idle speculation are all at risk of being taken out of context, just bundled up as proof against you. Just remember you cannot ever prove innocence. 

With the power to collect and interpret as they choose ideas at their very point of inception the Government gives itself the ability to step in and take avoiding actions. Actions that can range from isolating individuals, surveillance, planting of decoys, warnings all the way to arrest search or other life disruptions. They put themselves in the position to totally control any developments as the initiating ideas and membership grows. They are all seeing, all hearing and only they get to decided on the rights or wrongs.

If it stops another terrorist its okay then? Any dissent? You may not agree with the Coal Miners actions to save their industry.  You may not agree with the sit-in at Greenham Common. You may not agree with the HS2 protests. You may not agree with collect actions against the Single Past the Post system. You may not agree with the discontinuation of the Monarchy. You may not agree to bring an end to Party Politics and reinstate direct and accountable democracy. But you must agree the right to dissent from the Government is paramount. Dissent which can only be by collective action, actions that may fly close or even beyond what the Government of the day decrees legitimate. We should never ever give up our right to revolution as a final resort. Our right to collective action should be free of Establishment intimidation. Our friends and all the people we come into contact with should never be put under the microscope of suspicion just because we choose to dissent. Any more than our own innocent pasts should never be subjected to prejudiced retrospection just because we shared an EMail with the parent of our daughters friend who just happened to be radical. Dissent is what keeps us safe not the Snoopers Charter.

Prepare for Revolution

On balance I am in favour of the monarchy, with a few adjustments and three additional functions it could be a powerhouse for the advancement of this country. Apart from one critical concern. The Prince Consort, the King to be in waiting, is not fit for purpose. Unfortunately his upbringing has left him self-obsessed and self indulgent. Enjoying the highest position of privilege and a wealthy life-style, protected from the harsh realities of everyday life whilst surrounded by a fawning coterie of advisers and assistants, that all comes with responsibilities and limitations. Unfortunately he has failed to live up to this expectation in two major irredeemable ways.

Firstly, to stand before his loyal, enthusiastic and ready to be devoted people; to enter into an oath before them, witnessed all around the World, an oath to love and cherish this woman he had chosen to marry; when it is already a palpable lie, an undertaking he never had any intention to honour, having already found the mistress he preferred, it was outrageous, exploitative and unforgivable. A shameless exploitation of public goodwill and expectations to enter into what was always going to be, from his already fulfilled desires, a shame marriage. All done to capitalise on public support for a dynasty, to conform to some outmoded convention but without a shred of honesty of intention. You cannot get more corrupt than that. It cannot be shrugged off as a young mans escapades, nothing worse than what his ancestors had done before him. This is now, the position of the monarchy is no longer absolute but as head of our country, it is the most visible and remarked representation of it. As such it must be expected to promote and present high moral standards and integrity. All woefully lacking in the Prince Consort.

Secondly, surrounded by and with access to all the best minds, research, opinions and guidance the Prince Consort could play a vital galvanising role in developing a common perception for a future Britain. Unfortunately he lacks the intellectual capacity to contain his own maudlin, romanticised retrospective view of Britain so promotes that rather than instead, choosing the best and most realistic of the opinions surrounding him, and use them to promote a new vision of Britain. Disappointing as it always is when a golden opportunity is missed by small minds unable to rise to the higher challenge, at least it is forgivable. Unfortunately our Prince Consort cannot not contain himself but must be proactive and see his simplistic historical biased view on life implemented. He actively sets out to pervert the democratic process and in doing so deny his people their opportunity to decide for themselves the outcome, in this case the Planning process. The monarchy does not and has not had direct power for a long time and for good reasons. Unfortunately our Prince lacks the sensitivity to comprehend this and, by using his privileged access to key players and opinion takers, usurps the democratic process to ensure his vision of a future Britain overturns that that his people might choose. This is a dangerous naive man who already shows he lacks the sensitivity to govern wisely and lacks the common sense to realise there are real limitations to his actions that he has to impose on himself.

The House of Windsor is not going to willingly give up their accustomed wealth, power and influence and I just cannot see a mother deciding against her son. So people, we are left with no other choice. When the Queen dies or retires it is not 'God Save the King' but rise up now and put an end to these years of servitude. Take back that which has always rightly been yours. Long Live the Revolution!