Thursday, January 27, 2005

Guilty until proven innocent

So it took 28 hours for the British police to decide that there were no grounds to hold the Guantanamo Four in custody yet the US Government kept them locked up for three years.

According to the news US Governmen officials are still claiming that the four are a threat.

If they have any hard evidence to back up their claims why didn't they charge them with an offence and prosecute them?

Similarly, our security forces either have hard evidence that the people locked up in Belmarsh are guilty of terrorist activity.

It is quite frightening that, apparantly in order to preserve our freedoms, our Government appears to be willing to sacrifice our ... er ... freedoms.

I wonder if our Government would have stood by and done nothing for so long if the Guantanamo Four had been white?

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Good old Robert

So Robert Jackson, MP for Wantage, has 'crossed the floor'.

I stood against Robert at the last election and have met him several times since in my County Councillor role.

I'm not surprised by his decision. He clearly had misgivings about the direction of the Tories before the last election and his pro-European and pro-Tuition Fees views are well known. However much I might disagree with him on politics, he has always struck me as a thoughtful and principled man.

Are the Tories ever going to get any good news?