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"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving
a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Mahatma Gandhi, "Gandhi, An Autobiography", M. K.
Gandhi, page 446
London (1996) -- Britons surrendered more than 37,000 knives this month to ensure the safety of their country.
This project was organized by police and the Daily Mirror after the stabbing death of a school headmaster, Philip Lawrence.
The British government said it will propose legislation for stricter knife carrying laws. The offense now holds a maximum fine of $1,500.
Jury trials curbed under new crackdown
July 13, 2002
The Times
Thousands of defendants will lose the right to trial by jury in a sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system by Home Secretary David Blunkett. A White Paper will propose that judges should be able to sit alone in trials where they believe a jury might be subjected to intimidation, or in major fraud trials, or other complex cases. It will also propose the abolition of the double jeopardy rule - which currently prohibits the retrial of a defendant on the same charges - in cases of "a grave offence punishable by imprisonment", and cases with compelling new evidence where a retrial is "in the interests of justice".
The Times (London)
September 05, 2002
Britain 'leads way' in eroding privacy
By David Rowan
INDIVIDUAL privacy is being eroded in Britain to a far greater extent than in other developed countries, according to an international study of state surveillance in the year since September 11.
Many states have rushed through restrictive anti-terrorism and security laws in response to last year’s terrorist attacks, but the Blair Government is singled out for an anti-privacy “pathology” that the report claims is leading to mass surveillance of the population.
In the 400-page report, to be published tomorrow, Privacy International, a London-based campaign group, and the US Electronic Privacy Information Center, give warning of a significant loss of personal freedom. The Privacy and Human Rights survey notes that in many of the 53 countries studied, communications surveillance has grown, intrusive “personal profiling” of individuals has increased, and data protection laws have been watered down.
“In the rush to strengthen national security and to reduce the risk of future terrorist acts, governments around the world turned to legal authority and new technology to extend control over individuals,” the report states. “Many of these proposals have had far-reaching consequences for the protection of privacy.”
The report highlights the British Government’s use of the terrorist threat to introduce new requirements for personal communications data to be stored and to launch a new debate about a national identity card. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, also sought in June to extend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to allow private e-mail and telephone records to be shared among more than 1,000 government agencies. After facing strong protests, Mr Blunkett withdrew the proposal a few weeks later and announced that he had “blundered”.
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said the report highlighted “a systematic attack on the right to privacy by all levels of the British Government”. He added: “The UK demonstrates a pathology of antagonism toward privacy. The rate of growth of video surveillance, communications surveillance and information collection has exceeded the growth rate in such countries as Singapore and Israel.”
The erosion of privacy in Britain was not a new trend. “Crime and public order laws passed in recent years have placed substantial limitations on numerous rights, including freedom of assembly, privacy, freedom of movement, the right of silence, and freedom of speech,” the report states. It cites a number of illegal spying and surveillance activities by government agencies, often in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and estimates that 1.5 million CCTV cameras are now monitoring public spaces.
Amnesty International says today that anti-terrorism laws introduced in Britain in the wake of September 11 are inconsistent with international human rights and should be repealed.
The charity claims that the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, passed last November, contravenes fundamental human rights and calls for an immediate repeal of section 4, which empowers the Home Secretary to detain foreign nationals indefinitely, without charge or trial, if they pose a risk to national security.
Tough new gun laws to be launched Sep 1 2002
By Gerri Peev, Sunday Mercury
TOUGH new laws restricting the use and ownership of airguns is expected in the Queen's Speech in November - after a spate of shootings across Britain.
MPs believe they have won a nationwide campaign for stricter control of the weapons following a meeting last week with Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth.
They want to crack down particularly on the sale of air rifles and pistols bought from car boot sales and over the internet with no security or safety checks being made.
John Austin, Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, told the minister that around 10,000 air gun offences were currently recorded each year.
He cited the case of 16 year-old Tommy Morris from Abbey Wood, who was shot in the back last year. The pellet punctured his lungs, shattered his gall bladder and is still lodged in his liver.
"I have become aware of the extent of the problem across the country," he said. "I am in touch with campaigners across Britain, including the Midlands.
"Last year there were over 10,000 air weapon offences. Of these 1,600 resulted in slight injury, there were 166 serious injuries, and 62 cases of attempted murder.
"I fully support the recommendations of the Home Affairs Select Committee that there should be a strict licensing regime and increasing the age limit for possession of an air weapon."
Mr Austin has raised the issue in Parliament and has also written to Tony Blair.
A reply from the Prime Minister said the Home Office would look at the effectiveness of existing controls, consider whether changes in age limits would reduce misuse and review the practicalities of a registration system.
But Mr Austin last night said that did not go far enough.
"We need a strict licensing system," he argued. "We have to stop the yobs who can all too easily - and legally - buy these potentially lethal weapons over the counter, at car boot sales, or over the internet with no checks."
Birmingham MP Steve McCabe said: "I am all in favour of a crackdown on airguns. But instead of tightening the law on the users of airguns, we should be cracking down on the people who sell them."
In March a Birmingham businessman was shot at several times in a terrifying motorway road rage attack. His car was peppered with airgun pellets on the M1 near Sandiacre, Derbyshire but he escaped unhurt.
* A killer airgun exposed by the Sunday Mercury would also be affected by the new legislation.
We revealed the chilling menace of Brocock air weapons, which can be converted to fire live ammunition, against a background of soaring gun crime in the Midlands.
A detective with the elite National Criminal Intelligence Service said more than half of the illegal firearms seized by police were adapted air cartridge revolvers.
After our investigation Brocock Ltd, of Digbeth, Birmingham, said it had halted the importation and distribution of Magnum models.
London Times
07 Sept 2002
Crackdown calls after knife killings
Local politicians are demanding tough action against knife crime after a wave of stabbings in Glasgow left two men dead and four seriously injured. A 37-year-old man and another in his 20s died while a 17-year-old boy and three other men were in hospital following the attacks across the city. Bill Aitken, the Scottish Tories' deputy justice spokesman and list MSP for Glasgow, called for "tough action" on knife crime, saying: "The police must immediately institute a campaign against the carrying of knives by using their stop-and-search powers."
London Times
07 April 2003
'Police have lost control of streets'
Police have lost control of Britain's streets. That's the verdict of a report today which challenged Government claims that crime was "historically low". An influential think-tank said that in fact the number of robberies in London during the first two months of this year - 7,300 - was just 300 short of the total for the whole of 1980
London Times
09 Oct 2003
'UK needs gun crime strategy'
A national strategy to tackle gun crime was urged by a chief constable after a new wave of shootings shook Britain. The call to Home Secretary David Blunkett followed a spate of attacks in which two people have died and at least seven have been wounded. The latest shootings come on top of the murder of jeweller Marian Bates at her shop in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, on September 30.