Now that the chaotic aftermath of the Boston bombings has become somewhat calmer, (and, incidentally, now that we’ve also learned that the US Government can literally shut down an entire city at will with barely a peep of objection, which, without in any way wishing to downplay the horror of the bomb attacks themselves, is [...]
Abu Qatada is a nasty piece of work. Probably. From yesterday evening’s coverage of his release, it’s actually surprisingly difficult to find any specifics as to what it is he’s actually supposed to have done – according to the Guardian “judges accept [he] remains a threat to national security”, and the Daily Mail quotes someone [...]
If it wasn’t for the tragic loss of dozens of lives, the intellectual gymnastics which have followed the shootings in Norway would actually be quite funny. As it is, they’re just the icing on a particularly depressing cake. It’s not just the screeching u-turn the punditocracy (and the editorial staff at the Sun) performed after [...]
For all the Government’s many faults, one thing a lot of us could comfort ourselves with as the Coalition really got going was that at least they’d be better than Labour had been on civil liberties. They might be dead set on hacking chunks out of the State safety net for the poorest and most [...]
“Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets… Nobody panics when things go ‘according to plan.’ Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, [...]
The inevitable has happened, and our two greatest fears have collided, with frankly pretty hilarious consequences: The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned. Our hysteria over terrorism and paedophilia has finally reached the [...]
Walking through security at Portcullis House, the fabulously expensive building standing adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, is a bit like going through any airport anywhere in the world. But making your way through the spacious courtyard, past green trees and sun-dappled water features under the enormous sparkling glass dome towering overhead, you could be [...]
Guest post by Carl Packman 102 Minutes That Changed America, the brave documentary that aired on Channel 4 yesterday, made for very tough viewing. The camera was very intrusive, and actually seemed to infuriate people, but it did what was best in documenting some very sombre and terrifying moments. People, covered in dust and debris, [...]
Often, when making legal decisions, there is a clamour that we consider the opinions, feelings and position of the victims, and (especially in cases of murder) often this is defined loosely so as to include the victim’s family and friends. Over the past decade or so this has become increasingly enshrined in the actual making [...]
Guest post by Ashen Rues Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is not a name that trips easily off the tongue, but over the past few weeks his name has been mentioned more than any other. There is nothing better during a quiet summer than a small diplomatic row between allies and right now we have one mighty row, [...]
