Welcome to the Big Brother Watch newsletter.
This week, the BBW team's work was dominated by the government's decision to launch an all-out assault on the rights of smokers - from imposing a display ban on cigarettes to bringing forward plans for plain packaging on all tobacco products. We've also highlighted excellent research by Action on Rights for Children pointing to a surge in the number of schools fingerprinting their pupils before the practice is banned, the efforts of a group of Medway bikers to keep CCTV cars off the streets and campaigned against the government's hugely intrusive census.
You can read more about what we've been up to the 'Blogs of the Week' section below.
As always, if we can ever be of any assistance, please do get in touch with us. We can be reached by e-mail at info@bigbrotherwatch.org.uk.
Blogs of the Week
The vested interests of the anti-smoking lobby
Regular visitors to this blog will no doubt have heard about the government's new consultation paper, 'Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England'. Among other things, the paper demands the introduction of a display ban on all tobacco products and touts the possibility of plain packaging regulations being introduced in the near future.
The paper has, unsurprisingly, been warmly welcomed by anti-smoking campaigners like Deborah Arnott from Action on Smoking and Health who have expressed their "delighted that this Government is putting us on track to be the first European country tobacco to put tobacco in plain packs" and "an essential next step in protecting young people from the insidious marketing tactics of the tobacco industry".
Census 2011: Where do you work?
As you might have heard, the first batch of 2011 census forms have today begun dropping onto the doormats of millions of homes across the UK.
At Big Brother Watch, we have a clear position on the census: we believe it is both highly intrusive and a monumental waste of time and money. While the fact the public will be questioned on the type of central heating they have and the religion they practice has been widely publicised, the questions relating to an individual's workplace have received far less airtime.
Medway bikers keep CCTV car off the streets
A co-conspiritor has sent through a link to an amusing story on This is Kent regarding the efforts of a group of masked bikers to keep Medway CCTV car-free.
The group has been holding regular Wednesday "schunts" in order to alert the public to the presence of the vehicles, trailing them around the streets of Chatham, Gillingham and Rochester. Last week, however, the "schunt" went ahead as usual; except the council chickened out and the CCTV cars failed to leave their compound.
Surge in school finger-printing - before it's outlawed
Over at TechEye, the Andrea Petrou has written a shocking story about a report from Action on Rights for Children (ARCH) highlighting the surge in the number of schools fingerprinting their pupils before the practice is outlawed.
According to ARCH Director Terri Dowty - who wrote at length about children and civil liberties in the Big Brother Watch book - many schools are taking advantage of current laws which do not require parental consent for fingerprints to be taken before the Freedom Bill enters into law.
Media Coverage Highlights
Daniel Hamilton addressed the Young Britons' Foundation Parliamentary Rally in the House of Commons about freedom in the United Kingdom and abroad.
Daniel Hamilton on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the proposed ban on the display of tobacco products in s hops.
Daniel Hamilton on the Nick Ferrari Breakfast Show on LBC discussing the 2011 census.
Daniel Hamilton on ITV Granada TV and ITV Wales TV discussing the 2011 census.
Daily Express - £110 fine if your bin is out for too long
Daily Mail - Cigarette displays to be banned in shops from next April
He was echoed by Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties campaign group, which also hit out at the plans. A spokesman said: 'Not content with increasing taxes on tobacco to sky-high levels, it appears the Health Secretary now wants to go one step further and impose plain packaging on tobacco products.
'
This would be just the latest move by the Government to demonise smokers, a group of people who voluntarily choose to consume a perfectly legal product.
'The Government likes to talk about freedom - how about respecting the rights of smokers?
'Under Andrew Lansley, the nanny state is alive and well.'
The Guardian - Cigarettes may be sold in plain packets
Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties campaign group, also criticised the plans.
"Not content with increasing taxes on tobacco to sky-high levels, it appears the health secretary now wants to go one step further and impose plain packaging on tobacco products," a spokesman said.
"This would be just the latest move by the government to demonise smokers, a group of people who voluntarily choose to consume a perfectly legal product.
"The government likes to talk about freedom – how about respecting the rights of smokers? Under Andrew Lansley, the nanny state is alive and well."
BBC News - CCTV plan as Humberside Police cut officers
But Daniel Hamilton, of Big Brother Watch, said evidence shows that for every 1,000 cameras only one conviction is gained.
He added: "That money would be far better spent having more police on the street, rather than cameras, which are largely ineffective in doing their job."
TechEye - Vodafone responds to mobile broadband spying allegations
Privacy groups don't buy it. The problem seems to be that the service provider contracted by Vodafone operates outside of Britain's data legislation. Big Brother Watch told TechEye: “Vodafone customers will be shocked to learn that the company routinely snoops on their mobile internet connections. Internet users should be confident that the websites they visit are not used by their ISPs for marketing or other purposes.
"More concerningly, it appears that Vodafone has been giving the California-based web filtering firm BlueCoat access to this information – a company operating outside the UK and outside of the confines of British data protection legislation. Vodafone has a duty to protect the privacy of their customers, not spy on them”.
Telegraph - Letter to the Editor: Enemies of enterprise seek controls on tobacco
SIR – Today, smokers are asked to observe No Smoking Day.
They may also finally get to hear Government proposals that could ban the display of tobacco products in retail outlets, and only allow tobacco to be sold in plain, state-prescribed packaging.
If the Coalition is committed to defeating the enemies of enterprise, as David Cameron, the Prime Minister, claims, a good start would be to call a halt to the relentless campaign to “denormalise” smoking through an endless barrage of new controls, directives and diktats.
Mr Cameron claimed last weekend that he would wage war on bureaucrats who concoct ridiculous rules and regulations.
Banning the branding of tobacco products or making cigarettes an under-the-counter product would be yet another victory for these very bureaucrats.
Life would become more difficult for newsagents and tobacconists and easier for the providers of illicit tobacco to pass off their wares as legitimate. We cannot yet be sure about whether the Prime Minister’s commitment to combating regulation and red tape is truly serious.
If his Government now unveils proposals to further restrict the sale and purchase of tobacco, it will be a clear sign that his new commitment to enterprise is little more than political rhetoric.
Patrick Basham (Director, Democracy Institute)
Dr Eamonn Butler (Director, Adam Smith Institute)
Donna Edmunds (Director of Research, Progressive Vision)
Dr Helen Evans (Director, Nurses for Reform)
Dr Tim Evans (Chairman, Economic Policy Centre)
Daniel Hamilton (Director, Big Brother Watch)
Angela Harbutt (Executive Director, Liberal Vision)
Tim Knox (Acting Director, Centre for Policy Studies)
Mark (Littlewood Director General, Institute of Economic Affairs)
Matthew Sinclair (Director, The TaxPayers’ Alliance)
Simon Richards (Director, The Freedom Association)
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