The British Home Secretary gets serious
Betsy's Page
British Home Secretary, John Reid, gave a blast to critics of Tony Blair's government's efforts to protect against terrorism. His remarks that he made in a speech yesterday is especially interesting in light of the plot that was foiled last night. He clearly knew what the would-be terrorists were planning.
"Sometimes we may have to modify some of our own freedoms in the short term in order to prevent their misuse and abuse by those who oppose our fundamental values and would destroy all of our freedoms in the modern world," he said.
Mr Reid said Britain was now facing "probably the most sustained period of severe threat since the end of the second world war" and that the country was facing a new breed of ruthless "unconstrained international terrorists".
The European human rights convention had been drawn up 50 years ago to protect against fascist states but now the threat came from "fascist individuals" unconstrained by such conventions, agreements or standards. Everyone across the political, media, judicial and public spectrum needed to understand the depth and magnitude of the threat.
The majority of the public understood its seriousness but there were those who "just don't get it", whose opposition was undermining the struggle. They included:
· Politicians who opposed the anti-terror measures the police and security services said were necessary to combat the threat.
· European judges who passed the "Chahal judgment" that prohibited the home secretary from weighing the security of millions of British people if a suspected terrorist remained in the UK against the risk he faced if deported back to his own country.
· The media commentators who "apparently give more prominence to the views of Islamist terrorists rather than democratically elected Muslim politicians like premier Maliki of Iraq or President Karzai of Afghanstan".
He also was explicit enough to talk about Britain's immigrant population in his speech before Demos, an international think tank.
"He began by repeating the words he used last weekend, calling for an informed debate on immigration, which he describes as the greatest challenge facing Europe's governments.
SOT (English speech) super: Doctor John Reid, UK Home Secretary
"We have to get away from the notion that anyone who wants to talk about this issue is somehow racist. They're not. They're intelligent, ordinary people who are interested in the future of the country, and incidentally, they are people who come from all ethnic backgrounds, all different religions, and all social areas of our land. Those people recognize, as we do, that migrants can bring huge skills to the United Kingdom."
Perhaps, he's been reading Melanie Phillips book, Londonistan and are realizing that it is time to get past political correctness and address these groups within the country, often second generation immigrants, who are imbibing hatred for western society within their mosques and communities.
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