A little extreme….Labour: Miliband’s Phone Confiscated

After talking with the enemy and outsiders, Labour have responded to deal with Ed Miliband’s flirtations; a rather extreme measure in fairness. His aides have confiscated his phone and replaced his number, without only a select few being given it.

But according to one member of the party’s ruling body, the Labour leader stunned NEC members by responding: “They’ve taken my phone away.”

One NEC member told Sky News: “They’ve changed his mobile phone. He now has a different phone with a different number. Someone else now has his number. When I tried to text Ed, someone else replied.”

But at Tuesday’s NEC, when arrangements for this year’s conference were discussed, Mr Skinner subjected Mr Miliband to “a rant”, according to one of those present, before Mr Livingstone joined in the criticism.

Many Labour MPs have been alarmed by moves by Mr Miliband and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls to woo Mr Cable and other senior Lib Dems, fearing it will damage Labour’s chances of winning an outright majority at the election.

Oh. So much for ‘new politics’ within the Labour party; the old socialist guard do not like communication with non-Labourites.

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Join ‘Refuse to Use’ – Keep Big Brother out of schools

‘Refuse to Use’ is campaigning against Blacon High School (and indeed all British Schools) taking scans of our childrens’ fingerprints, just to buy school dinners.

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Pussy Riot are no longer a symbol of music, but a struggle against tyranny

Three women have been sentenced to jail, for two years, for protesting against Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral. In Russia, the Orthodox Church is proud, and public, supporter of Putin. There is no distinction; church and state are one in Russia. A proud member of the kleptocracy.

Opposition leaders have been arrested outside the court, including Garry Kasparov – Twitter users posted images of him being beaten up by the police. Other activists have been rounded up, too. In Putin’s Russia, the Church has an 11th commandment – Thou shalt not criticise Putin. Only 6% Russians have any sympathy towards Pussy Riot, yet these young girls have managed to unite the growing opposition against Putin.

In May this year 20,000 people protested in Moscow against what they saw as unfair elections. Democratic reforms have been promised and draconian laws to be repealed, but many are sceptical of Putin’s true intentions. The protests have ceased, but this court case has re-sparked the calls for greater democratic reform.

By sending these three girls to jail, Russian’s now have a rallying point; a symbol of defiance against Putin. A recent unknown band has now become an international symbol that embodies freedom of expression and speech. The Kremlin have created the first freedom of speech martyrs.

Expect many, many more

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Orange Book 2.0 – International Democracy (part two)

The G20 are gathering in Mexico; the most powerful nations on Earth converge to discuss global affairs and possible solutions to our problems. Whether social or economical, the G20 conference aims to bring stability to humanity. One problem; with 7 billion people on this planet I beg to ask one simple question: who elected them?

This ‘world council’ in all but name is unaccountable and not very transparent. Deals and discussions are closed door affairs, with leaders breaking off into smaller groups in order to ‘find a solution’. An ‘agreement’ is then published to waiting media and that’s it. Meeting over for a year. It is rather unnerving that this independent group is more influential than the UN General Assembly – whose role has effectively been replaced by the G20. The alienation of globalisation, and its unjustified democratic deficit, is intensified by the creation of another international quango and the clandestine appearance simply becomes an object of protest. It is the pinnacle of hatred for the anti-globalisation movement.

Liberal Democrats should seek to provide some urgent transparency to global institutions and begin the debate for true democratic representation. The G20 should be abolished and the UN General Assembly needs to become the ‘talking shop’ for global affairs – not this behind closed doors event for the elite. It is up to liberals to ensure globalisation is not just about economic liberalism, but the expansion of international power is friendly to democracy; we should not be advocating transporting sovereignty to bureaucratic and unaccountable organisations. If we are to have a globalised world, then it should be a democratic and transparent one.

A league of international democracies should be the primacy for any liberal party and we should not be afraid to promote it. This ‘new world’ needs to represent the true values of humanity: democracy, human rights and justice. It should not represent the worse aspects of our species.

In the final part, I shall conclude with listing six policies for our new foreign policy.

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Euro Crisis: The Death of A Generation

I understand the frustrations and anger, I really do. After all, I’ve defended and given vocal support to the Occupy Movement; even if my views will differ on some elements, I whole heartedly object to corporate welfare and the banking system holding taxpayers hostage.

Countless individuals of this generation are out protesting on the streets everyday – in reality, it is the only thing they have left. Young people have discovered the great truth of life and we don’t live in a utopia; the economy was built on a giant ponzi scheme, government is incompetent and senior politicians just want your vote.  It is understandable, then, that young people are rather angry. They’ve been told a great, great lie.

Especially young Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese and Irish.

The aspirations and hopes of this generation, including its freedoms, have been substituted and negated by the  requirement of preventing the collapse of German and French banks. Greek bailouts are not provided to ensure public officials get paid, hospitals afford medication and the lights remain on across the country – the ‘aid’ is to meet debt requirements. Majority of it held in Frankfurt and Paris.

The greatest tragedy, after the human cost, is the lack of prosecutions. During the Great Depression, several bankers and investors faced federal investigation for insider trading, corruption, financial manipulation and fraud. Fred Goodwin was just stripped of his knighthood and slapped on the wrist. That’s it. Whilst Athens, Madrid, Lisbon and Dublin burn, Brussels still demands obedience and loyalty to the ‘grand project’; a project that is failing, and failing very rapidly. The Commission still enjoy lucrative salaries, pensions and power.

A Union of Europe has failed to achieve its primary goal: improving the lives of Europeans. Young Germans might enjoy relative good levels of employment,  but their Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and Irish counterparts cannot get a job. How is that the foundation for a strong, vibrant and productive economy union? it’s a recipe for social unrest, not unity.

And a bigger threat is now on the horizon: markets have turned their attention to Italy. Even the IMF, let alone the ECB, cannot afford a financial package to rescue Rome; the Italian economy is just too big to bailout. The core of the Eurozone will be breached.

Collapsing currencies never end well and the disintegration of monetary unions-throughout human history-has always ended with civil wars and the rise of authoritarian regimes. And it is this generation, the young people of Europe, who are the sacrificial lambs in this financial slaughter.

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I’m sorry, Theresa May, but this snoopers’ charter is unworkable

Theresa May has written in The Sun today and explained the new draft bill, which would give the police and intelligence services access to online data. Her justification for this invasion of privacy is laughable and exploits emotive stories to gain support. We shall break down her article:

WE have been sickened by the recent case in Rochdale of a network of men grooming young girls — plying them with drink, drugs and gifts so they could use them for sex…Key to the police cracking this case was communications data. Information from their mobiles proved they were in constant contact, making calls and sending texts to co-ordinate their crimes.

Yes, the police used existing laws and powers to bring these individuals to justice. This draft bill is unrelated to that tragic case.

But fast-forward five or ten years and this gang wouldn’t have been communicating just through calls and texts — they would have been using social networks, instant messaging, online gaming and emails.

Online gaming – are you serious? ISP’s and instant messaging services such as MSN and Yahoo! have a moderator facility (which has been around for years) and communication is regularly monitored. Similar to e-mails, a ‘key word’ system is used to attract attention to conversations that violate T&C’s. Again, this is nothing new and powers already exist. An ISP will provide the police with your communication data – if you discuss illegal activities.

Another thing: online gaming is such a vast community – are we talking console, PC or just website based games?

Just because criminals only talk to each other online shouldn’t mean they escape justice. But that is what will happen if we don’t update police powers. Paedophiles are avoiding capture because the police cannot get access to all the data they need.

Again, the emotive line and preaching to people fears. This idea the sky will fall – if the police are not given these new powers – is laughable. Again, existing powers are brining online criminal activities to justice.

If we do nothing the situation will only get worse. That is why the Government has today published a draft Bill to allow the law to keep up with changes in technology.

Politics of fear.

People have a right to privacy. But unless you are a criminal, then you’ve nothing to worry about from this new law. This isn’t a snoopers’ charter, it’s a criminals’ nightmare.

I have nothing to worry about? this bill treats everyone as a potential criminal; no different from Labour’s totalitarian anti-terrorism laws.

Regarding hacking, for example, majority of information gathering is achieved by using perfectly legal and legitimate ways. The government seems to be unable to understand that. The complexity of internet crimes are not black and white and similar to the real world; instead of rushing this draft bill, maybe the Home Office should take careful time to learn how criminality online actually works.

The people who will be investigated are those linked to crime. Those who will be helped are victims, the vulnerable and missing children.

Ah, the emotional line again. Preaching to people’s fears and emotions….

Under no circumstances will this new law allow the police to read what’s been said in an email or listen to what’s been said in a phone call over the internet.

Actually, they can and do. A ECHELON ‘key word’ system is already in operation; mention any of those words (I believe the total is 250) and your phone calls/internet activity will be monitored. Existing powers and all that…

I just don’t understand why some criticise these proposals. They must either not get what this data is and how it’s used or just can’t grasp its importance.

Oh, I grasp the importance, but treating all of us as potential criminals is a little bit extreme, don’t you think?

Conspiracy theorists will come up with ridiculous claims about how these measures infringe freedom.

BINGO! we’re conspiracy theorists. Tune in next week and I’ll be arguing why 9/11 was an inside job….*rolls eyes*

But without changing the law the only freedom we would protect is that of criminals, terrorists and paedophiles — and that is something I am not prepared to let happen.

Hear that LibDems? we are now the party of terrorists and peadophiles because we desire to restrict arbitrary power. The problem with the bill is this: it treats the internet in general terms, when it is a very complex and vast entity. Theresa May is nonchalant on internet activity and how users truly interact with it – especially those who desire anonymity and engage in illegal activity.

I’m more than happy to provide a more detailed account to why this bill is flawed, even to a select committee or to the Home Office themselves. As I’ve mentioned before, in a previous blog post, the internet is borderless and it is extremely difficult to restrict its freedom with legal powers.

Politicians don’t know how the internet works and, especially, contemporary social media.

You cannot achieve such an outcome without targeting everyone – that’s the problem.

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Liberal Democrats must block the ‘snoopers’ charter’

Details of internet use in the UK will have to be stored for a year to allow police and intelligence services to access it, under government plans.

Records will include people’s activity on social network sites, webmail, internet phone calls and online gaming.

BBC News

This is a massive invasion of privacy; as David Davis mentioned, it would only “catch the innocent and incompetent”. It is utterly repugnant to target the majority of users and grant unjustified access to our information. Especially online gaming; are MI5 and MI6 going to spend precious hours researching into Playstation Network and Xbox LIVE accounts to find terrorists?

This will only result in greater intrusion from the state and widespread abuse.

Liberal Democrats must ensure this never, ever becomes law. Period.

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Party conference and police accreditation

Currently very busy, but I shall write my remarks; actually, this tweet (by me) from last night explains my opinion on the FCC announcement:

Party conferences are free assemblies. I have no intention of getting permission from the police for my possible attendance

Wish to reinforce this statement; I have no intention of handing over information to police to be approved. Conferences are free assemblies and this right should not be abused, or restricted, in the name of security.

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Bahrain: What’s more important…

This..

Or this…

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People should not be afraid of their government

A post-materialist society, in which the rights of the people are enshrined and symbolised as intrinsic values, are among the most productive and secure. To paraphrase a historical figure, democracy might not be perfect, but it is-currently-the best form of government humanity has discovered.

A government, which distrusts its population and views the individual with great suspicion is not a free society; nor a democracy. Britain is among one of oldest democracies in the world, yet alarming security legislation has been passed to undermine our freedoms in recent years. The fear of ‘the other’ has justified significant erosion of fundamental rights and sowed the foundations of an authoritarian state; a surveillance society, with the ever growing presence of the state to ensure we are, apparently, ‘safe’.

Libertarians are often accused of holding idealistic and philosophical opinions on how a nation should be administrated, which has led to accusations of not understanding the threat of terrorism. Well, unfortunately, the pain of terrorism is something I tragically know and, indeed, is a trauma I am quite familiar with me; this pain, however, does not justify the erosion of fundamental principles of liberty. It should not be used as an excuse to coerce individuals into accepting needless authority and protection, that cannot be guaranteed.

Governments, of course, have the duty to protect the population from arbitrary power and threats, but it does not come at the expense of the  people’s basic rights. You do not, for example, keep children safe by locking them in an empty room; so why should the state imprison its population, in a siege-esque mentality, to protect them?

Secrecy is repugnant, as JFK once said, in an open and free society. We should be able to live our lives freely without the watchful eye peering into our daily routine.

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