Lies, Damn Lies

An open letter

Dear Mr Blair,

Please don't make me move to Canada. Despite a cynical, left wing attitude, I still kind of like Britain. I know, crazy huh, maybe it is just our sense of humour, maybe it is a general attitude, maybe it is just a fear of change. But some things go a little too far.

One of the reasons I like Britain is it respects human rights. It is, in fact, supposed to be a champion of those values. If you listen to certain politicans, this is apparently the reason why the terrorists hate it (one might have thought it would be the systematic using and abusing of their countries, but hey, I could be wrong). See, the thing is, is we have had trials without juries. We have had people locked up for very long periods without much evidence. It wasn't found to be a terribly effective method of stopping crime. I do not think you will find a large amount of people who are willing to support the policy of internment in Northern Ireland.

I understand that you feel the need to catch these terrorists, but considering how succesful the police appear to have been so far, it could be that it is not necessary to curb people's liberties to do it. I know the police say they need these new powers, but to be fair the police have been known to be wrong. Thats why we allow juries to decide innocence, not the police. Its a system that seems to have served us well for quite a long time, I really see no need to drop it.

The most worrying thing is your happiness to send people back to countries where they may well be tortured. Mr Blair, I like to believe that you are a good man, despite some evidence to the contrary, I like to believe that you still care about being fair, and helping people live better lives. I also know you are not a stupid man mr Blair, so surely you are not gullible enough to think that countries notorious for torture giving us... assurances are enough to protect them? Well, evidently not, as you are apparently prepared to withdraw from the convention of human rights to get out of this.

Do you really want to be a leader of a nation that condones torture Mr Blair? I know I don't want to live in a nation that does.

Please don't make me move to Canada Mr Blair. I hear its very cold in winter.

posted by Mr K @ 3:06 pm