Mon, 28 May 2007
Yesterday in a leaked letter to the Prime Minister, Tony
McNulty, the Counter-Terrorism Minister, outlines the Home Office
proposal
to give powers to the police to stop and question people. People
refusing to give their names or explain what they were doing could be
charged with obstructing the police and fined up to £5,000.
A year ago nearly to the day, I asked a
question
at the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) about the stop and
searches conducted in London under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act
2000. And only a few months ago, the MPA issued
recommendations
asking to ‘stop using it, other than in exceptional circumstances’.
If this terrible proposal still goes forward after Tony Blair and John
Reid leave office, how many more of us will become ‘
suspect’
or future ‘
former
suspect’?