As Julian Glover notes, Jack Straw let the cat out of the bag. ‘Never, ever, downplay the possible
consequences,’ he says. The coverage of the recent bomb plot has largely ignored that it was foiled. That, by any definition, is a success, a vindication of our security services. Independent
inspector Lord Carlile is right that improvements can be made to the bomb detection apparatus in airports and targeting security at the source of
a threat – i.e. packages from the Yemen rather than package holidays.
The previous government would have used this plot to introduce another wave of invasive legislation – never, ever, downplay the possible consequences to justify I.D. cards, deeper control orders and further suspension of Habeas Corpus.
The coalition agreement is plain on these matters:
‘We will be strong in defence of freedom. The Government believes that the British state has become too authoritarian, and that over the past decade it has abused and eroded fundamental human freedoms and historic civil liberties.
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