Are we heading towards a Police State?

So we have journalists being banned from press conferences at No. 10, a plan for demonstrations to be banned from parliament square and no unplanned sit ins or disruptive action that might inconvenience the population, facial recognition introduced with no legislation, the "internet of things" to check up on everyone, .... I could go on.

Are we moving towards a Police State? Are you bothered and if not do you really understand how much our civil liberties are being eroded by stealth with excuses that seem so reasonable?

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

I don't think we are heading towards a Police State, but I do think we are going too far with regard to scrutiny on just about everything we do.
This was evident about 17 yrs ago when microphones were secretly installed in my place of work . When I say 'secretly' , the building was accessed over night with pass keys and without knowledge of the managers on site and microphones were installed. Had it not been for one of the guys who had previously been an electrician and noticed wires that had appeared, no one would have been any the wiser. Not too long afterwards, cameras were installed focussing on every part of the workforce, which was over a very large and segmented area . They told us it was for security, but it was being transmitted to a centre which was some 7/8 miles away. Something I felt was very 'red' after having seen documentaries about how Russia monitored everything that their citizens did.
Since then, we have the camera's everywhere.

I often wondered that because we were an island that we were the ideal place for trials, and possibly paid for through some deal with USA.

I believe the journalists who were not allowed into the press conference , had not been invited , so in that instance I don't think anything is wrong, neither do I think protests outside Westminster being banned is wrong. It must be pretty hectic there at times and the amount of police resources would be quite staggering .

When police go into schools and take finger prints of children, without parent knowledge or consent, that I think is very wrong.
My greatest concern is that babies will be chipped at birth before too long, if they aren't already !

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

Is this happening /planned? That is truly shocking PD.

Unlike you I am concerned about selective journalism.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

There are some places - countries, states, cities etc - that are nanny states. These are places that take a parent/ child attitude to the population. The list of "not alloweds" is a mile long. I know Muddy will probably disagree with me here but that's OK of course. Horses for courses (NO pun intended honest!) But I think Singapore is an example of this. Half the people are in a uniform of some kind and you always feel like you are being watched. Sure they are a successful and ordered and peaceful. But they are also one of the world' biggest arms manufactures and dealers. But so is Australia ordered and peaceful and successful. But we are still allowed to have long hair if we are male, wear ripped jeans and chew gum. The laws in Singapore are draconian and rigid. But I wouldn't call it a police state. I think a police state is one where if you disagree or speak against the "ruler" (read dictator) you are likely to disappear in the night never to be seen again. Read Iran, Chile in the 1970s, Iraq under Saddam and many others. Maybe it's not quite that bad in China yet but if you speak against or oppose the party and the regime, you are simply marginalised gradually and more or less turned into an outcast.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

I wouldn't worry too much about those facial recognition cameras and computers. They are specially designed to detect wanted criminals. Without out going into a lot of detail, the computers do in micro-seconds what it might take a human to do in hours. When they register a "hit", alarm bells ring and the police and other gov't agencies hit the streets and attempt to arrest the wanted person ie terrorists, thugs and the like.

Yes, all faces are scooped up but unless the face is wanted by the police, the computer ignores them.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

Hi

Define a Police State.

Here in the UK we can still openly call Boris or Corbyn a pillock.

You will not get a knock on the door.

You can still demonstrate, peacefully, without fear.

The world is not changing, it has already changed.

We have reward cards, your entire shopping habits are known, not only what you buy, but the dates and times of where you are.

Social Media, Facebook, Twitter etc.

They know your location, your friends and contacts, complete with location and photos.

Buy online, have it delivered, they know what, when you ordered it and when you where in to accept it.

All this information is known by private companies and it is valuable stuff, they sell it.

Every card transaction you make is known, time, location, what you purchased.

This is what the Credit Reference Agencies used to produce a Credit Score, which determines how much interest you pay on your Credit Cards.

Your Mobile, easy to trace you through every mobile mast.

Every Internet search you do is recorded by the company, used to sell you targeted adverts.

You are doing this freely, giving away all this information to private companies, which are unregulated and which are making £Billions every day.

This is what you need to be worried about.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

Probably, slow processes are hard to spot.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

I stopped assuming that everything I do on line is private a looooong time ago. Simple things are

1. I don't do anything illegal or that I can be blackmailed about.

2. I don't use on- line banking. Yes I use a credit card for bills and things but what choice do I have?..I only keep enough money in that account for the bills and the rest is protected.

3. I use Adblock. Any advertising that does get through I ignore.

So, maybe I am what JBR labelled me..viz.. "A joke" . Too naive. Maybe one day I'll still be a victim of something on line. But it's all worked for me so far. If this country ever becomes totally controlled by police, well that will be the end for me. If we can get out we'll go and live in New Zealand.

My definition:

A state where the power of the police is arbitrary and used by a totalitarian regime to control the population and spy on them. The police are not really subject to any check and balances on their power.

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

Unfortunately - very true!

Re: Are we heading towards a Police State?

As I understand it few journalists hostile to the government have been excluded from the lobby meetings, no one has prevented them from writing what they wish the latter would be the actions of a police state .

Keeping Parliament Square clear of 'pop up demonstrations' has been suggested for many years but has yet to happen. I think it would be no bad thing for many reasons.