All Hail the Thought Police

This report in the Guardian is spot on.

114 climate protesters were arrested whilst planning to protest at Ratcliffe-on-Soar powerstation. Lets review that again. They were arrested before they did anything criminal. As far as I'm aware, planning a protest isn't illegal, so why were they arrested?

The Police contend that some of the protesters were plotting criminal activities, but not all of them, so why arrest all the protesters. Why not wait until the ones plotting criminal acts actually carried them out so there'd be evidence of them committing criminal acts and they would be banged to rights in court? No, the police decided that thought crime was enough to charge these people with. Someone should tell the fucking idiots in the Police that Minority Report was a film and doesn't bear any reality to UK law. Innocent until proven guilty? Not in the post-Blunkett Police. Since he was made home secretary, he and his successors have made the Police more oppressive to more of the population than ever before. Another reason why the relationship with the Police and the population at large is falling apart.

Jaqui Smith is just as bad. She hasn't reined in any of the excesses of the Police. She should be sacked.

Home Secretary Jaqui Smith is a Cunt.

Well, I wanted to say a bit more eloquently, Jaqui Smith's position as home secretary is untenable, but then I read Old Holborne's blog here. He has a point.

Jaqui Smith has so far survived the most dramatically damaging revelations of any Home Secretary I've seen in my life. Whether it's snouting at the trough, or implementing oppressive laws, or sticking up for Chief Constables that lost the plot, or allowing ACPO to become the de-facto head of the Police force, or bullying opposition MPs with prison sentences because they release embarrasing information (that doesn't affect national security), she has shown as Home Secretary that neither her nor the Home Office are fit for purpose.

Jaqui Smith's position is untenable. She has to go as she no longer has the respect of the population. Old Holborn thinks she's a cunt, I think she's a cunt and so do several other people. Just how strong does the language have to get before she either does the decent thing and resigns, or gets sacked? She really is a complete and utter useless cunt.

Update:

Ian Dale has a post here that Shami Chakrabarti was targetted by the team investigating Damien Green. It tends to show a culture in place at the Police that could only be influenced by political interference, ostensibly from the home office.

Jaqui Smith is fucked. The stories just keep coming. I'll be suprised if she lasts the week.