Stick that fork in Britain a little deeper,

'cause they're about done.

Kim had this post the other day on the new 'sentancing guidelines', with lots of violent offenders being let out of prison after very little time, and new guidelines to basically give tickets to offenders. You know, those not-too-bad types like burglars, and people who commit assaut?

Well, today I was over at Samizdata and found this:

"This morning sees the opening for business of the new Serious Organised Crime Agency - though it officially began existence on April 1st, it is no joke - whose spokesman was interviewed on the Today programme this morning.

He proudly stated that because its personnel will not take the Police Oath they would therefore be able to adopt 'new and exciting' methods. So what is to be sacrificed?

The same interview made clear that 'once you are on their books you will be watched for life'.

Agents of SOCA will be empowered to operate without marking or uniform anywhere in the world. They are to be regarded as an intelligence service, permitted and encouraged to do anything within the law to (in the Home Office's favourite phrase) 'bear down on' their targets. But the intelligence services don't have powers of arrest or to compel cooperation. They cannot direct other law enforcement agencies or commandeer their facilities. The SOCA-man can.

Agents may operate in secret. And they may exercise any of the the powers of police, customs officers, revenue inspectors (though not bound by their rigorous code of impartiality and confidentiality either), or immigration officials. SOCA officials have the capacity to demand information from a vast variety of sources without judicial warrant, under statutes ranging from the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to the Identity Cards Act 2006, and pass it on to whomsoever it chooses. It is a crime to fail to report to it a transaction you ought to have known was suspicious, even if you are a lawyer and asked to advise a client on a transaction. It can deputise - 'designate' - people freely to exercise its powers, and form ad hoc investigation teams it is an offence to obstruct. 'Anything within the law' is getting to be a very broad category indeed."

This is bloody awful. This is a 'law enforcement agency' with what amounts to carte blanche to do any damn thing they want, however they decide they need/want to do it. Including "...without marking or uniform anywhere in the world".

I have many times wished to visit Britain, in particular Ireland and Scotland. At this point I doubt I will. There's too many ways to get into trouble for owning/carrying/thinking/saying 'wrong' things, and this just reinforces that. Not to mention the sorrow of watching a land we owe a big chunk of our own past to go down the toilet.