Privacy campaigners are expressing concern about a planned new tracking device to be fitted to new cars throughout Europe.
Officials claim it will reduce carbon emissions, road accidents & congestion, but the system, which will be more accurate than current Sat Nav technologies, will have profound implications for privacy. British roads are already the most monitored in the world - details from the automatic number plate recognition cameras are stored for up to 5 years.
As with all these systems, the argument is that it’s for our own protection. But I agree with Simon Davies, director of Watchdog International, who says “ The problem is not what the data tells the state, but what happens with interlocking information it already has. If you correlate car tracking data with mobile phone data, which can also track people, there is potential for an almost infallible surveillance system”
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Thoughts on the Two Party System
It occured to me last week, when the new rise in unemployment figures was publicised as being the highest since 1997, that this means that even during the boom in the Thatcher years, unemployment was higher than it has been at any time under the Labour government. What a huge indictment of the Tories. If they couldn't do better in the loadsamoney era, how on earth do Cameron & Osbourne plan to improve things with their mish mash of economic ideas.
The other issue is this. Jacqui Smith's embarassing revelations & those of other expense account MPs seem to be opening the floodgates to a new era of sleaze.
Is this being orchestrated ? If so, by whom? From which party the mole that has leaked the recent MPs expenses report for the princely sum of £300,000 ?
Does any of this matter ? I think so. No-one can take the business of democracy seriously when the reasoning behind a change of vote .is based upon mudslinging from whichever side. Decisions should be made on the efficacy of policy ideas, not on attempting to discredit the other side.
The other issue is this. Jacqui Smith's embarassing revelations & those of other expense account MPs seem to be opening the floodgates to a new era of sleaze.
Is this being orchestrated ? If so, by whom? From which party the mole that has leaked the recent MPs expenses report for the princely sum of £300,000 ?
Does any of this matter ? I think so. No-one can take the business of democracy seriously when the reasoning behind a change of vote .is based upon mudslinging from whichever side. Decisions should be made on the efficacy of policy ideas, not on attempting to discredit the other side.
Saturday 7 March 2009
SOUTH DORSET CRITICISM OF BLACKLISTING TACTICS
SOUTH DORSET PROSPECTIVE MP SLAMS BLACKLISTING OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
One of the greatest freedoms we have in this country is the right of protest. That’s why the collection of private details of union members & perceived trouble-makers by a private detective who sold the data to major construction franchises like Mcalpines & Laing is so worrying. Many of these men have had their earning capacities seriously blighted & their lives have suffered accordingly.
We could link this to the police databank containing surveillance details of thousands of political campaigners. Photos, names & video footage of people attenbding demonstrations are stored on an ‘intelligence system’ which also includes their political associations.
One the one hand here what we have is businessmen illegally monitoring their workforce & on the other the police using legislation introduced by Labour to define genuine protestors as potential terrorists.
Many people say they don’t care about the erosion of our freedoms. But if you can’t get a job because you attended a demonstration years ago then this data gathering will affect your life in a very direct way.
Join the Convention on Modern Liberty & the Guardian newspaper in protesting on these issues.
One of the greatest freedoms we have in this country is the right of protest. That’s why the collection of private details of union members & perceived trouble-makers by a private detective who sold the data to major construction franchises like Mcalpines & Laing is so worrying. Many of these men have had their earning capacities seriously blighted & their lives have suffered accordingly.
We could link this to the police databank containing surveillance details of thousands of political campaigners. Photos, names & video footage of people attenbding demonstrations are stored on an ‘intelligence system’ which also includes their political associations.
One the one hand here what we have is businessmen illegally monitoring their workforce & on the other the police using legislation introduced by Labour to define genuine protestors as potential terrorists.
Many people say they don’t care about the erosion of our freedoms. But if you can’t get a job because you attended a demonstration years ago then this data gathering will affect your life in a very direct way.
Join the Convention on Modern Liberty & the Guardian newspaper in protesting on these issues.
SOUTH DORSET CANDIDATE BLAMES CONSERVATIVES FOR RECESSION
SOUTH DORSET CANDIDATE BLAMES FREEMARKET CONSERVATIVISM FOR RECESSION
In an interview with the Guardian the party's Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, blamed the Conservatives for the economic downturn and said the current leadership had been caught unawares by the crisis. He said: "They didn't anticipate it. Many of the problems we have originate from the Thatcher years. If you take for example the way in which they demutualised building societies, which became banks, that was a real Thatcher policy and those institutions have been at the heart of the crisis of irresponsible lending."
Cable blamed the Conservatives for arguing "unremittingly" for the lifting of effective banking regulation. He also said that in the US rightwing politicians took a much more straightforward approach. "John McCain is saying just get on and nationalise the banks. You have to do it for pragmatic reasons. The Tories here don't seem to have grasped that.
I can only agree ! The kind of mass consumer culture that we have in this country & all of the evils it brings with it, whether overspending & resultant debt or the emphasis on material goods as the only form of self worth or happiness, is all the result of the massive deregulation brought about by the Conservatives in the 1980s.
This is something I feel really strongly about having worked for 14 years in the NHS as a Counsellor. Again & again I’ve seen families struggling with debt brought about by irresponsible lending & people whose sense of value in life is not about themselves but about what they own. It’s had a huge impact on our children & what they think about themselves & it’s a dangerous legacy for the future
When the Conservatives bemoan the so called ‘broken society’ & criticise the lack of responsibility taken by families for their own, they should look at themselves. The ‘broken society’ is the result of the rampant consumerism unleashed in the 1980s & 90s, where all of the bonds that had held society together were broken apart by Margaret Thatcher & the only thing offered to fill the gap was the pursuit of materialism. We are facing the truth now: the only people who have really benefited from this are the wealthy - & the gap between the richest & the poorest in this country is wider now, even after a Labour government than it was in the 1970s.
In an interview with the Guardian the party's Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, blamed the Conservatives for the economic downturn and said the current leadership had been caught unawares by the crisis. He said: "They didn't anticipate it. Many of the problems we have originate from the Thatcher years. If you take for example the way in which they demutualised building societies, which became banks, that was a real Thatcher policy and those institutions have been at the heart of the crisis of irresponsible lending."
Cable blamed the Conservatives for arguing "unremittingly" for the lifting of effective banking regulation. He also said that in the US rightwing politicians took a much more straightforward approach. "John McCain is saying just get on and nationalise the banks. You have to do it for pragmatic reasons. The Tories here don't seem to have grasped that.
I can only agree ! The kind of mass consumer culture that we have in this country & all of the evils it brings with it, whether overspending & resultant debt or the emphasis on material goods as the only form of self worth or happiness, is all the result of the massive deregulation brought about by the Conservatives in the 1980s.
This is something I feel really strongly about having worked for 14 years in the NHS as a Counsellor. Again & again I’ve seen families struggling with debt brought about by irresponsible lending & people whose sense of value in life is not about themselves but about what they own. It’s had a huge impact on our children & what they think about themselves & it’s a dangerous legacy for the future
When the Conservatives bemoan the so called ‘broken society’ & criticise the lack of responsibility taken by families for their own, they should look at themselves. The ‘broken society’ is the result of the rampant consumerism unleashed in the 1980s & 90s, where all of the bonds that had held society together were broken apart by Margaret Thatcher & the only thing offered to fill the gap was the pursuit of materialism. We are facing the truth now: the only people who have really benefited from this are the wealthy - & the gap between the richest & the poorest in this country is wider now, even after a Labour government than it was in the 1970s.
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