ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Where is your cloud storage?

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Cloud Storage

To store or not to Store

Research has shown that over 65% of cloud storage is controlled by these three big giants:

      • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
      • Microsoft
      • Google

And whilst they do protect your data, they also have to allow US intelligence and law-enforcement services to access the data because of US Laws which give them very broad powers.  So where is your clud storage?

Scare Monger

Now I could be called a ‘scare monger’, and as is often quoted @if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about’, but the latest tranches of data protection leaks show that mistakes can and do happen:

  • PSNI Police Details Leak
  • Electoral Commission hacked with all our personal details

The statistics for the US are equally alarming if not worse.

Conflicts of Interest

The European Union is very aware of the possible conflicts of interest between it [EU] and the United States [US}, and don’t forget that the UK is no longer a part of the EU.  Only recently the EU fines Facebook E1.2bn (£1bn) for having inadequate safeguards for data sent from the EU to the US.

We individually must think carefully about where we store our data, because the more knowledgeable we are of where it is stored, with whom, and on what hardware then we can make informed choices about safeguarding our data.  We need to be aware of the possibility of hardware failure, what happens if the US retreats within its borders and turns off the tap to allow us access to our data.

The EU have started thinking about this and are actively investigating setting up its own clud computing farm; but the question is, is this an option for the United Kingdom [UK], would we be able to go it alone, will be allowed access to the EU?

Questions, Questions, Questions

There are so many questions, and no one at present seems to have the answers.

What are your thoughts, comment and let us know

 

 

Comment and Let Us Know

Write a comment and let us have your thoughts

 

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Cloud Storage

Belfast Pride and Economics

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Belfast Pride and Economics!  Originally, we had Pride Day with a march to show people that we are part of their community and that we had a right to exist.  At this point we were fighting for our lives;  abuse, both physical and mental, was normal, and murder occurred and was usually brushed under the legal table as justified due to overtures or something similar. (Portsmouth Defence)

And again, marches started in large cities like New York and London, and like a spider’s web slowly the marches spread into other cities and links were formed.

In the background to these marches were the fights in court to get us legal recognition and protection (e.g., Jeffrey Dudgeon, MBE).

 

…’Try to will yourself into – or out of – loving someone,  try to will someone into loving you, and you collide with the fundamental fact that we do not choose whom we love.’  …James Baldwin on Love, the illusion of Choice and the Paradox of Freedom

 

Time has passed and so the Pride March has become Pride Month, with a lot of regions or cities now holding the Pride Parade which is almost like a Lord Mayor’s Float Parade!

With a parade comes flamboyance, but why?  To quote i-d-vice.com  in their article the significance of men’s fashion at pride’: 

 

…Queer men have always worn outlandish clothing within the safety of their own spaces but Pride is different; it’s an occasion which allows you to dress however you want, in broad daylight, in the centre of the city. Fashion at Pride is a way of being defiantly visible, satirising the straight world, and experimenting with gender….

 

However, this last year during the covid lockdown we have all seen how shallow the acceptance has been, with an increase in LGBTQ+ attacks, with the homeless of LGBTQ+ increasing and with some countries even reversing (or seeking to reverse) the laws which were fought for to give the LGBTQ+ community acceptance and protection.

I love Belfast Pride, having been one of those few souls who marched on the very first one in 1991 (all 200 of us), and walked past the various vociferous groups protesting us being there and alive.

That first Pride in Belfast was a small affair, but so significant as it allowed the Belfast population going about their normal daily tasks, to see that we were just like them from one end of the spectrum to another, with very flamboyant characters to extremely conservative ones – and that just as other groups have marched for centuries in the belief of their right to exist, so were we.

Today, as I have mentioned above, the Pride Day Parade is a large affair in Belfast, with conservative numbers for those taking part being (55000) and with watchers at least double that.   We have support groups from Trade Unions, the PSNI, local councils, student groups to name but a few.  The detractors have gone down in number, and indeed the local papers generally write in a positive way about the parade.

I welcome this change, but again I caution everyone to remember our roots, there are still those who would seek to have us put back in the closet.

The one thing that is not often mentioned about Gay Pride Parades is the economic benefit that regions, towns, or cities get from them.  I come from a background of finance, and I am also a local community journalist for our community, so I was extremely interested to see if anyone knew what economic benefits were brought into Belfast specifically and for Northern Ireland in general.

There is little available documentation regarding this area, but one that I have read with interest is the Greater London Authority Mayoral Decision for funding for Pride in London for the period 2018-2022.  I would like to share an extract from it: –

…During the past five years, Pride in London has continued to see growth and improved community engagement.  It is the UK’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) event and parade that typically attracts an annual attendance of up to a million people into central London.  Independent audience survey research in 2016 (the most recent data set) showed that additional spend in the local economy from people attending Pride was approximately £26.3m…

Now obviously Belfast figures as I have stated above are nowhere near 1 million (55000 approx.), however, if you conservatively look at the projected spend figures then I would suggest that Belfast economically benefits to the tune of

 

  Attendance Figures Additional Spend Spend per Head Estimated Policing Cost Estimated Cleaning Up Costs Estimated Net Benefit
             
London 1000000 £26.3m £26.30 £1m £1m £24.3m
             
 Brighton 400000 £20.5m  £51.25 £420k* £200k* £19.8
             
             
Belfast 55000 £.825m £15.00 £55k £45k £725k
  55000 £.550m £10.00 £55k £45k £450K
Northern Ireland            
             

 

Now the statistics for Northern Ireland are a lot more obscure as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board does not seem to track increased  figures for the period of Pride Month, and in particular Belfast Pride (FOI Request reply to 3 questions on Belfast Pride and in general N Ireland Pride Festivals dated 25 Jun 2018), but I believe that economically, the events help attract tourist income, stimulate employment, encourage spending, and contribute to public infrastructure development; and in so doing events prove the opportunity to revitalise communities and foster economic development. 

Also, the rural pride events can help members of the LGBTQ+ community to feel supported and accepted by creating visibility about different sexual orientations.

In the last week, we have seen reference to 1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!  It is important to realise that Belfast Pride is both a celebration of life and who we are, but also a political statement to show we are here, that we will not be going back and that we will continue to fight for our rights in society.

 

Belfast Pride and Economics

 

 

Links:

 

 

Virtual Belfast Reception

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Virtual Belfast ReceptionOn July 1st, 2021 the PinkNews, in partnership with Citi and the Rainbow Project, under the title “Virtual Belfast Reception” organised a panel discussion on LGBT+ equality in Northern Ireland.  The Virtual Belfast Reception online meeting involved Doug Beattie, UUP leader, Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, Colm Eastwood, SDLP leader, Naomi Long, Alliance leader and justice minister, and Mal O’Hara, a Green Party councillor in Belfast and the event was moderated by John O’Doherty, director of the Rainbow Project.
 
 
The virtual meeting was conducted through Zoom, with the audience being able to view but not comment except through the messenger facility of the program.  Areas under discussion were:
 
                • Transgender
                • Self ID Laws
                • LGBTQ+ and Education
                • Conversion Therapy

 

Obviously, during 1hr 30min+ discussion, there were sidetracks; the main one being over political parties and LGBTQ+ rights to which Paul Bradley, deputy leader of the DUP, said that in response to a question from Mr O’Doherty about the DUP and its history of negativity on LGBTQ+ issues, 

“I’m not going to defend some of the things that have been said over the years, because they have been absolutely atrocious. They’ve been shocking, so they have.
“I certainly couldn’t stand by many of those comments – in fact, all of those comments.
“Because I know that the hurt they have caused people and I know that fed into the hatred some people have had to endure in their life, and I think that’s absolutely wrong.
“I think the vast majority of those people that made those comments are no longer there, and the ones that are there have said that they have learned their lessons, that their language at times has not been right.
“It’s something I’ve brought up on numerous occasions with my own party because I think not sometimes, all the time, our language very much that we use as elected representatives has an impact in wider society.
“I can certainly say I apologise for what others have said and done in the past because I do think that there has been some very hurtful comments and some language that really should not have been used.”

(A full transcript can be found in the Newsletter link which is at the end of this article)

 

Now, this was a welcome response, however, it was then followed by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaking on Sunday, July 5th 2021|:

Mr Donaldson acknowledged past comments by members of the party had been “hurtful” to LGBT people here, before adding it was “not just in the case of the DUP”.

While the DUP leader said it is right “that we say sorry and acknowledge hurt”, Mr Donaldson went on to add: “Equally in time, I hope others will be able to acknowledge that they have caused hurt, for example to people from a strongly held faith perspective.”

This is the politician two shoe shuffle, give on one hand and then take away by blaming it all on someone else.

 

Much as Paul Bradly may wish, and indeed believes, that the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) is making strives to reform, it would seem that its current leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, has more in keeping with the leader he replaced Edwin Poots, or if you go back further Mrs Iris Robinson, a previous MLA and wife of the then First Minister ‘Peter Robinson’,  and ‘her’ psychologist who claimed that he could cure gays (gay conversion therapy).

 

Virtual Belfast Reception

 

 

Whilst I have concnetrated on the DUP during this virtual meeting, the other participants were very clear in the answers and supportive.  Some of the phrases which I have written down are:

  • Even though things have changed, there is ‘always a need to remain alert’.
  • If you ‘Stop pushing forward, then we will move back’
  • Even though we have had ‘Immense change, the lesson is we have to keep gong’
  • ‘Always think about those young people in turmoil’
  • ‘A Safe Place For All Of Our People’

Links:

 

The Conversion Therapy Saga

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This Conversion Therapy Saga is yet again another reason why I deplore the UK Government’s lethargy in making “conversion therapy” illegal.  Here we have a man (Dr. Ole Ivar Lovaas) who developed “conversion therapy” but also tried to make autistic children “normal”.

Conversion Therapy

I have previously discussed “conversion therapy2 as applied to people within the LGBTQ+ community in my article ‘Conversion Therapy – Rethink Finally‘ published 11 September 2020

The worrying factor about both these therapies is that they in effect abuse the recipients, for the LGBTQ+ candidates they at least can make themselves heard about the abuse they received, for the autistic children it is extremely doubtful that they ever could or would be in such a position.

“No matter what form it takes, gay conversion therapy is going to be psychologically harmful,” Becker said. “They’re told that they can change this thing they can’t change, and it leads to devastating consequences.”

Dr. Lovaas died in 2010, however, his therapy for autistic children remains on the books I believe for ‘all states’ in the USA, and in only 20 states is gay conversion therapy banned.

 

Links:

A Child in Our Time

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A Child in our Time came about because yesterday I read an article by Jack Shenker on Craig Easton’s photographs of the Williams family which was published in the Guardian Weekend. It was thought-provoking in a number of ways, firstly the Williams family were not different from you and I, they worked and if it hadn’t been for the ‘depression’ of the 90s brought about by a number of factors including:

restrictive monetary policy enacted by central banks, primarily in response to inflation concerns, the loss of consumer and business confidence as a result of the 1990 oil price shock…Wikipedia

and because of the recession, they lost jobs and homes and ended up on benefits. They strived to get out the hole that they were driven into and let’s be honest neither the politics and politicians of that day, nor even today seem to understand what they need to help them step up out of the quagmire that governments have put them in.

But they are not alone; according to the current government’s own information, there were 5.6 million people on Universal Credit at 9 July 2020, an increase of 2% from 11 June 2020. around 42% (that means 4 in 10) of claimants were in the ‘Searching for work’ conditionality group. But again, this statistic means little until you also look at how many people in the United Kingdom are on the poverty line. According to fullfact.org, An estimated 14.3 million people are in poverty in the UK. 8.3 million are working-age adults, 4.6 million are children, and 1.3 million are of pension age. Around 22% of people are in poverty, and 34% of children are (27 Sep 2019).

As I said, the Williams family are not unique in what has happened to them, but I wonder if anyone in the government realises just how far we have sunk? We have initiatives driven by individuals like Marcus Rashford and other sporting stars, by organisations like Children in Need, businesses who either have their own initiatives or who have joined together to support others, and of course, we have private individuals – but, why does it seem that the government always seems to behind in taking action that will help positively. I see lots of government initiatives which rarely seem to achieve much!

 

Child in our Time - Levels of poverty

(Joseph Rowntree Fundation)

Also, I again have to note that it is not just the conservative government, the Labour/Lib Dem pact was equally as bad.
I honestly do not know the solution, but I do know that if we continue to vote in politicians who have little or no idea of the society that they are representing then as a country we would seem to be doomed.

 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundations says:

Solving poverty is not quick or easy, but it is possible, starting with a vision, commitment and a plan.

 

Child in our Time - Poverty - Free Creative Commons Highway Sign image

 

Links:

A benign Ogre – Stop and Search in Northern Ireland

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An ogre can be someone who is frightening or a ‘man’ who eats people.

So why did this come into my mind having just read an article by the BBC on “What are my rights if I’m stopped and searched?”? We as human beings have a tendency to resort to literature characters who are not real to enable us to describe a situation we are currently in or have experienced.

Firstly, I have yet again to take the BBC to task for being England/Wales centric. The article is professionally written and researched, however, to dismiss Scotland and Northern Ireland with the lines:

…The laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different, but there are many similarities with those in England and Wales..
shows a total lack of understanding that each of these countries is unique as is its law. I will not endeavour to speak about Scottish law as I do not live there, however, the law in Northern Ireland is most definitely coloured by the 30+ years of the ‘troubles’. This has polarised a lot of the community in terms of accepting the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland).

 

Stop & Search - A benign OgreA crowd - A benign Ogre

Now back to Stop and Search in Northern Ireland, let us do a comparison on stop and search figures:

Stop and Search Comparison

CountryYearPopulationStatistics of people stoppedRatio as per population
England & Wales291856.1m (approx)380,00019 people stopped per every 2810
Northern Ireland20181.88m (approx)28,11628 people stopped per every 2288

So, what are your rights if you are ‘Stopped and Searched’ in Northern Ireland?

According to Northern Ireland Direct, and here I will quoted directly…

Who can stop and search you?

Any police officer can stop and search you. If they are not in uniform they must identify themselves before the search takes place. The stop and search action doesn’t mean you’re under arrest or that you’ve done something wrong.
The reasons police can stop and search you
The police can stop and search you:
• if there has been serious violence or disorder in the area
• if police are looking for a suspect who fits your description
• if police have reasonable grounds to suspect you’re carrying drugs, a weapon or stolen property
• in countering terrorism

What happens in a stop and search?

If you’re stopped and searched:
• you must stay for all of the search
• police must make sure the search time is as short as possible
• the search must take place where you were stopped or nearby, unless moving you would protect your privacy
Before a search, a police officer must tell you the grounds for the search, what they’re looking for, their name (except where the stop and search is to do with terrorism) and the station they’re attached to.
If you’re in a public place, you’ll be asked to remove your coat or jacket and any headgear or gloves worn unless the search is to do with terrorism or when police believe you’re using clothes to hide your identity. They can ask you to empty your pockets and open any baggage to help the search….(https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/stop-and-search)

But there is more to be considered; what personal information am I obliged to give the officer?

According to the Citizenship Foundation, this is what you should think about:

…: I do not have to give my name or address to the police
It Depends. You only have to if the police suspect you have committed (or are about to commit) an arrestable offence.
You don’t have to answer a police officer’s questions, but someone who refuses to give their name and address may be arrested if the police officer reasonably believes they have committed an offence. You have the right not to answer any more questions until you have received legal advice from a solicitor.
In Northern Ireland, a person has an obligation to give their name and address and DOB under certain circumstance, together with the answers to some questions, under section 21 of the Justice and Security Act. Consider

Q: If you’ve not done anything wrong, do you think refusing to say your name makes you look suspicious?
Q: Do you think it’s worth having this right if enforcing it means that you could be suspected of committing an offence…

(https://smartlaw.org.uk/wordpress//content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2017/04/Police-powers-teachers-notes-v2.pdf)

Now consider in April 1993 the Editor of upstart (a local gay publication) stated exactly the same thing, but with the addition of reminding people if they are in doubt then give the minimum information you have to ask to see a solicitor – for Northern Ireland at this time this was really relevant for gay men, as various purges were taking place (the latest at that time being in Belvior Park) and people’s lives were being destroyed.

We all have a right to support the police forces in their given legal duty, but remember they like us are human and can make mistakes.

 

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Conversion Therapy – Rethink Finally

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The Growing Movement to Ban Conversion Therapy

 

 

Earlier this month I wrote an article (Gay Conversion Therapy – Government Cop Out) reflecting back on how long we have been raising this issue and why was the government dragging its feet over putting in place measure to stop young LGBTQ people from being mentally tortured?

I reflected back on Dr Paul Miller, on Stormont’s intransigence, and how the Westminster bullies (those in a position of power and trust) seemed to feel that LGBTQ people do not count and do not need to be protected.

So I welcome that the Northern Ireland Executive is going to take the lead and develop a strategy across a number of Departments to have legislation put in place to place a ban on reparative or conversion therapy by private operations.

As I said in my previous article, conversion therapy is nothing short of ‘brain washing’, the LGBTQ community and the people in it do not need to be converted, they need to be made to feel equal within society in all aspects! 

Raising Equality (US) - Openclipart

 

External links:

 

 

 

 

Gay Conversion Therapy – Government Cop Out

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In June 2013, I wrote a short piece on Dr Paul Miller MD DMH MRC Psych as he had hit the headlines due to his ability to ‘cure’ gays through ‘Gay Conversion Therapy’.  Also, his close connections to ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Iris Robinson.

Why am I re-raising this again you may ask; well I was reading some old Hansards’ and came across a report on Dr Miller talking to a

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE FOR HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY

where he was talking about suicide and in particular with young men.  He also made reference to his Christian beliefs in this report.  He outlined all his experience and qualifications – which  to a layman seem to be very exhaustive.

Now back to today, Dr Miller is Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychogeriatrician. Clinical Lead and Responsible Officer at Mirabilis Health which is based in Glengormley.  A recent report (Announced Care Inspection Report 27 March 2017) from The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority found no issues with the establishment and the 12 patients who submitted questionnaire responses indicated that the service is well managed.

Now the therapy system that Dr Miller uses is:

EMDR therapy is broken down into eight different phases, so you’ll need to attend multiple sessions. Treatment usually takes about 12 separate sessions.

Phase 1: History and treatment planning

Your therapist will first review your history and decide where you are in the treatment process. This evaluation phase also includes talking about your trauma and identifying potential traumatic memories to treat specifically.

Phase 2: Preparation

Your therapist will then help you learn several different ways to cope with the emotional or psychological stress you’re experiencing.

Stress management techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness may be used.

Phase 3: Assessment

During the third phase of EMDR treatment, your therapist will identify the specific memories that will be targeted and all the associated components (such as the physical sensations that are stimulated when you concentrate on an event) for each target memory.

Phases 4-7: Treatment

Your therapist will then begin using EMDR therapy techniques to treat your targeted memories. During these sessions, you will be asked to focus on a negative thought, memory, or image.

Your therapist will simultaneously have you do specific eye movements. The bilateral stimulation may also include taps or other movements mixed in, depending on your case.

After the bilateral stimulation, your therapist will ask you to let your mind go blank and notice the thoughts and feelings you’re having spontaneously. After you identify these thoughts, your therapist may have you refocus on that traumatic memory, or move on to another.

If you become distressed, your therapist will help bring you back to the present before moving on to another traumatic memory. Over time, the distress over particular thoughts, images, or memories should start to fade.

Phase 8: Evaluation

In the final phase, you’ll be asked to evaluate your progress after these sessions. Your therapist will do the same.

I am not saying EMDR is not successful, EMDR therapy has proven to be very effective in the treatment of PTSD for instance, however as being gay is not a medical condition, and possibly using it as a form of Gay Conversion treatment of ‘gays’ it would seem more like a version of brainwashing.

Brainwashing - Gay Conversion Therapy

Now the LGBT community has been fighting for gay conversion therapy to be banned in the UK.  Indeed in 2018, then-prime minister Theresa May’s LGBT action plan said the government would bring forward proposals to “end the practice of conversion therapy” as a priority; however the current Conservative equalities minister Kemi Badenoch says the so-called therapy is a ‘very complex issue’ and the department was unable to produce a timetable for any legislation or forthcoming consultation.

Westminster and Gay Conversion Therapy
Conservative Government Cop Out

Research

Belfast psychiatrist Miller to face cash dealings probe – Headline from 18 April 2013

The ‘gay cure’ experiments that were written out of scientific history

Treatments of homosexuality in Britain since the 1950s—an oral history: the experience of patients

Conversion Therapy

The cruel, dangerous reality of gay conversion therapy

Gay Conversion Therapy’s Disturbing 19th-Century Origins

I tried gay conversion therapy and it was my own horror film

UK government hasn’t banned gay conversion therapy two years after pledge to end practice

EMDR Therapy: What You Need to Know

‘The love letter to my neighbourhood that helped me flee my country’ – BBC News

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Source: ‘The love letter to my neighbourhood that helped me flee my country’ – BBC News

 

This is a wonderful insightful letter from the journalist  José Gregorio Márquez, who is writing about his believed Venezuela.  It flows with love and wonder, but also heartache when he references the killings and disappearances in his country, and why he had to finally leave for Buenos Aires and start a new life.

 

A photo on his wall

 

Civil Liberties – is the legacy living on?

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I wrote this article some time ago, to be exact in Sep 2013, for another organisation, but it is time we think again as we are going through the sham elections for a new Prime Minister, and with the candidates who are standing:

Martin Luther King jnr - Civil Liberties

Civil Liberties

Over the last few weeks papers, television and radio have been referring to Martin Luther King jnr’s speech ‘I have a dream’ which was delivered in Washington on August 28, 1963.

The speech was the high point of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; which in itself became the focal point of a campaign against discrimination, voting restrictions, unfair treatment by the police and statutory barriers against social mobility and economic opportunity.

The impact of this speech was felt across America, and then across the world, and whilst MLK was not initially billed as the main speaker, his speech has now become synonymous with Civil Rights, and led within two years to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act being passed in the USA.

Rustin Bayard and Martin Luther King jnr - Civil Liberties
March on Washington Aug 28 - Civil Liberties

Non-Violent Action

MLK developed his commitment to a principle of non-violent action through the tutelage of Bayard Rustin, a man who was black, gay, and a Quaker.  Bayard’s own life had been through many phases. Bayard was brought up by his grandparents acting as his parents, who were Methodists ( he later found out that his ‘sister’ was his mother).  He was a member of the Young Communist League until 1941 after the Nazi invasion of Russia led the U.S. party to switch gears into building American opposition to fascism, and racial justice issues fell by the wayside.

Rustin was a deeply committed pacifist, owing largely to his Quaker background, and got thrown in jail for conscientiously objecting to service in World War II. It was his introduction of Gandhi’s tactics of nonviolent resistance (which he learned when visiting independence activists in India) to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr which served as a platform for MLK’s enduring success in civil liberties along with his oratory.

Bayard being gay, and also that he had been arrested for 1953 and sentenced under the lesser charge of ‘sex perversion’, was often used by his enemies both in the establishment and in the civil liberties camp as an indication of his unsuitability.  However, it is interesting to read the FBI synopsis on him:

Federal Bureau of Investigation

A Federal Bureau of Investigation internal memorandum (25th January, 1966)
Rustin is a very competent individual who is widely known in the civil rights field. He is personally familiar with numerous individuals with communist backgrounds. As one of Martin Luther King’s closest advisers, he is in a position to wield considerable influence on King’s activities. Technical coverage of Rustin is an important part of the overall coverage of King, who is the most prominent civil rights in the country today. Because of the influence being exerted on King by persons with subversive backgrounds, it is necessary for us to maintain coverage of individuals such as Rustin. In order to fulfill the Bureau’s responsibilities to uncover communist influence in racial matters, it is recommended that technical coverage of Rustin be continued.

Bayard Sings - Civil LIverties

Written out of History

Bayard Rustin, has been a man written out of history due to his abilities and to him being black and gay; fortunately society has moved on today, and more importantly the USA has a black president who this year has recognised the importance of Bayard by awarding him Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month.

Unfortunately some 50 years after MLK’s speech, and it’s impact worldwide, I must report that civil liberties in the United Kingdom are under threat.  Our freedoms, whether those of the LGBT community, black, white, religious or non-religious are important to us.  History has shown that we must fight and succour our civil liberties; that we must not allow governments to sequester them in the pursuit of security.  So having said this how do we in one of the first democracies of the world now have one and a half times as many surveillance cameras as communist China (Tom Kelly, Mail Online,  Aug 2009).  According to the Association of Chief Police Officers,  as of Aug 2011, there are in actuality 1.85 million CCTV cameras in the united kingdom.

To this we can also see the implementation of ‘Stop and Search’.  In June of this year, it was stated that there were a million stops each year, with only 9% leading to court cases (BBC, July 2, 2013).  However an article in the Sunday Post dated August 25, 2013, said that in the last year the Scottish Police have actioned six hundred and twelve thousand (612,000) stop and searches in the last year – approximately a 50% increase, with only thirteen percent (13%) possibly finding anything!

I do not believe that England and Wales only did 400,000 stop and searches over this period, and looking back a few years ago I wrote about the police tactics of stopping people and confiscating cameras and videos during various times of unrest ‘in the interest of the public’. A tactic which has since been clarified as being unjustified.

Our civil liberties belong to us:

As for civil liberties, any one who is not vigilant may one day find himself living, if not in a police state, at least in a police city. Gore Vidal
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/gore_vidal_704644?src=t_civil_liberties

Civil liberties in the United Kingdom have a long and formative history. This is usually considered to have begun with the English legal charter the Magna Carta of 1215, following its predecessor the English Charter of Liberties, a landmark document in English legal history.  However it could be argued that the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 in Scotland was the first attempted implementation of civil liberties in part of the United Kingdom.  Today the United Kingdom’s relationship to civil liberties has been mediated through its membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In other words, civil liberties are the “rights” or “freedoms” which underpin democracy. This usually means the right to vote, the right to life, the prohibition on torture, security of the person, the right to personal liberty and due process of law, freedom of expression and freedom of association.[3]

(Wikipedia, 2013)

Stop the Police State

I call upon everyone to monitor their police and security forces, their local and national government – don’t allow the United Kingdom to become a ‘police’ state.

banksy-search
S&S KNow Your Rights

Further Reading:

Wikipedia –Civil Liberties in the United Kingdom
Wikipedia – Bayard Rustin
The Atlantic – Article by Kerry Eleveld ‘Obama, Bayard Rustin, and the New LGBT Civil Rights Movement‘
Spartacus Educational – Bayard Rustin
Washington Post – Wonkblog – Meet Bayard Rustin, the gay socialist pacifist who planned the 1963 march on Washington