Last week, joyful images of Damian Green standing next to the remnants of our multi-million pound ID card database were met with applause from those of us who pride personal freedom and resent an over-powering state. This is a state that, in its wisdom, has deemed it within its rights (and amazingly even its responsibility on occasions) to hold data on every single British citizen, information that delved into the most personal aspects of the individual.
In August of last year, the coalition government finally switched off Contact Point, the database which cost the taxpayer nearly £500m over a six year period and held information on all children under the age of 18. And so, in six months, we have had two significant victories for British liberty and freedom; thanks to the great work by the likes of Big Brother Watch, NO2ID and, of course, the new administration.
The comparisons between the world we lived in a year ago and George Orwell’s depiction of 1984 are par for the course these days and most probably, boring and tedious to a lot of people. They are comparisons which have been made by so many, on so many different levels and in relation to so many different examples that the analogy seems to have lost all value and significance. It is at this time, a time which we hope will be the turning point for British liberty in the post-war era, that we must refocus and reevaluate the startling realities of the world we live in and with any luck, the world we are starting to leave behind. You do not require me to reel off the cases that this blog and others have exposed, but the Big Brother state is, unfortunately, not a work of fiction anymore.
With campaigns such as these, momentum is crucial. We may just have it on our side at the moment. Let’s not squander this opportunity, this wonderful chance to claw back the liberty that once was so crucial to our democracy, and yet has continually been eroded by an overpowering state.
Guest post by Jago Pearson
Well said. Very good article.
Posted by: Richard Craven | 18/02/2011 at 01:48 PM
Very nice Jago hope to see many more of your articles on here. Thank-you
Posted by: Niki | 19/02/2011 at 02:09 PM
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