Richard's Kingdom

Jacquie Smith is to step down as Secretary of State for the Home Department in the cabinet reshuffle that Gordon Brown is planning to make after the European elections on Thursday.
While the door to the Home Secretary’s office has revolved ever more rapidly since 2001 the authoritarian brief of its occupants has hardly wavered.
Somewhere in [...]

Dear Alun Michael MP,
I am writing to ask you to vote against the government’s plans to extend from 28 to 42 days the period for which suspects can be interned in the UK.
I am not afraid of terrorism and I don’t want my representatives to be afraid on my behalf. I understand that it is [...]

The British Parliament must not extend the practice of internment.
In the UK you can already be detained without charge or trial for 28 days if you are accused of terrorism, acts preparatory to terrorism, possessing material for a terrorist purpose, being a member of a terrorist organisation, funding terrorism, attending a terror training camp, inciting [...]

The Government has decided to post the UK terror threat level on the home office and MI5 websites. On 1 August, a new public system of alerts will replace the existing mechanism which, despite being secret, was widely leaked and speculated upon.
As with the existing system, the new (slightly simplified) threat levels will have specific [...]