This new campaign video shown at Home Secretary Alan Johnson’s press conference on crime yesterday left me livid.It actually seems to suggest that only criminals would disagree with the DNA database – the one that holds data on 850,000 innocent people.“Do we honestly need a whole database just so the police can see if someone’s dandruff matches their cigarette butt,” says the thief in the video, as if it were the best argument that opponents of the database have come up with.It certainly was not the argument that convinced the European Court of Human Rights to rule that the kind of DNA database the Government was creating was "a disproportionate interference" in people's lives and that it couldn't be "regarded as necessary in a democratic...

Original Home Page Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here. “He’s not a war criminal. He’s not evil. He didn’t lie. He didn’t sell out Britain or commit treason. He wasn’t Bush’s poodle. He hasn’t got blood on his hands. The anti-war nutters must not be allowed to damage Blair’s reputation further. He was a great PM, a great statesman and a great leader.” Comment at end Ban Blair-Baiting 26th February, 2010 Brown: “We Do Not Torture” Got it? Good. Now kindly put a sock in it, Chakrabarti, Clegg and mates. We KNOW who is protecting our country’s security, liberty and democracy and it ain’t YOU. Article follows: ‘GORDON Brown today...

Original Home Page Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here. “He’s not a war criminal. He’s not evil. He didn’t lie. He didn’t sell out Britain or commit treason. He wasn’t Bush’s poodle. He hasn’t got blood on his hands. The anti-war nutters must not be allowed to damage Blair’s reputation further. He was a great PM, a great statesman and a great leader.” Comment at end Ban Blair-Baiting 25th February, 2010 In the middle of the coup, the former welfare minister Frank Field went to No 10 to plead with Blair not to give way to Brown. “You can’t go yet. You can’t let Mrs Rochester out of the attic,” he said. Rawnsley writes: “Blair roared...

Yesterday evening I was honoured to be Thanet Labour Group’s representative at Chinese for Labour’s slightly belated Chinese New Year celebration. Compered by the inimitable Simon Fanshawe, who kindly posed mid quip to catch his best side in the photo shown. Simon kept the evening flowing, but also took the opportunity to celebrate Labour’s achievement on lesbian and gay rights. Pointing out several people present with civil partnerships, he said this had only happened because over three terms of Labour government there had been a confidence and commitment to equal rights for everybody in our community. David Cameron of course opposed gay rights. He now supports them. Has he genuinely changed his mind, or is he just expressing a view that he thinks will win him more votes? Home...

So the Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said that, "Liberal Democrat Conference is a Hippy Commune". So when was he last at a hippy commune?I have to say it must be one of the most expensive hippy communes going, hotel prices are steep, maybe we should set up a yurt village in the Bullring in a few weeks. Hotel bar tabs are nowhere were as hippyesque as homemade alcoholic Dandelion...

As The Guardian reports: The political storm over allegations of MI5 complicity in torture escalated tonight after Alan Johnson, the home secretary, accused the media of publishing “groundless accusations” and commentators of spreading “ludicrous lies” about the Security Service. As defence lawyers prepared to challenge the government’s success in suppressing severe criticism of MI5 officers made by one of Britain’s most senior judges, the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, pointed the finger at the “very top of government” saying senior ministers had probably known about claims of Britain’s involvement in torture but failed to take action to stop it. Here’s Nick’s statement in full: David Miliband and Alan Johnson’s...

Home secretary blasts Lib Dems and media after Guardian revealed how government suppressed scathing court rulingThe political storm over allegations of MI5 complicity in torture escalated tonight after Alan Johnson, the home secretary, accused the media of publishing "groundless accusations" and commentators of spreading "ludicrous lies" about the Security Service.As defence lawyers prepared to challenge the government's success in suppressing severe criticism of MI5 officers made by one of Britain's most senior judges, the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, pointed the finger at the "very top of government" saying senior ministers had probably known about claims of Britain's involvement in torture but failed to take action to stop it.The home secretary's intervention came as Kim...

There is always a tension between the desire to restrict immigration and the economic imperative to recruit more international students to study in the UK. Yesterday's announcement by Alan Johnson of his plans to introduce further restrictions on overseas students, with shrieks of 'not enough' from his Conservative shadow, is in severe danger of reducing our competitiveness in a market where Britain is already fighting to retain market share.To be fair, much of what Johnson proposed is sensible enough. A clampdown on those with poor English or those bringing dependents in for short courses seems unarguable. But, the severe tightening in student working hours is already being misreported in the Indian press (it applies apparently only to sub-degree courses though this was not made clear...

Home Office to cut number of visas and those offered them will have to speak passable EnglishThe number of student visas could be cut by tens of thousands under new rules making it harder for people to enter the UK, the home secretary, Alan Johnson, announced today.Those seeking to study in the country will have to speak passable English, while students enrolling on short courses are banned from bringing dependants.The new rules, which do not require legislation, come into effect immediately. The changes follow criticism of the government's point-based system, that was introduced last year.Prospective students will have to speak English to a level just below GCSE standard, treating English as a foreign language, rather than the beginner level as at present. In a move designed to protect...

Dear Alan Johnson, I’m sure you consider yesterday’s announcement regarding sex offenders to be a fantastic success, given that the press lapped it up and the Conservatives were forced to fall into line. The plan is to let families ask police if someone with access to their child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse, following the trials of such a scheme in Southampton, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Stockton-on-Tees.  One can see why the media loved it, but that doesn’t mean it is all good news. “Sarah’s Law” was proposed after the kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne by Roy Whiting, a convicted sex offender, 10 years ago.  Her mother, Sara, a child protection campaigner, told the News of the World: “In...

Home secretary plans national launch of powers enabling parents to check whether child carers are convicted sex offendersThe Conservatives today backed plans by the home secretary, Alan Johnson, for a national roll-out of powers allowing parents to check whether those who regularly care for their children are convicted sex offenders.The decision followed a pilot scheme in four police areas – Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cleveland and Warwickshire – which gave parents and carers controlled access to the sex offenders register.At least one police force, Avon and Somerset, refused to take part in the pilot.The decision was announced by Johnson in the News of the World, which has campaigned for what it calls "Sarah's law" – the publication of the names and addresses of convicted sex...

Home Secretary says threat has increased but there is no evidence to suggest an attack is imminentThe threat of international terrorism to the UK was raised from substantial to the second highest level of severe last night, meaning an attack is "highly likely".Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent.The escalation reversed a decision in July to downgrade the likelihood of a terror attack from "severe" to "substantial".Johnson said the change was not ­specifically linked to the increased threat from international terrorism following the failed Detroit plane bombing on Christmas Day or to any other incident.He said the Joint Terrorism ­Analysis Centre (Jtac), a unit within MI5, had taken the ­decision based on a broad range of...

• Threat raised from 'substantial' to 'severe'• Home secretary says no attack is imminent The threat of international terrorism to the UK was raised from substantial to the second highest level of severe last night, meaning an attack is "highly likely".Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent.The escalation reversed a decision in July to downgrade the likelihood of a terror attack from "severe" to "substantial".Johnson said the change was not ­specifically linked to the increased threat from international terrorism following the failed Detroit plane bombing on Christmas Day or to any other incident.He said the Joint Terrorism ­Analysis Centre (Jtac), a unit within MI5, had taken the ­decision based on a broad range of...

More New Labour drivel. This time from John Denham (pictured above), the Communities Secretary, who says in a speech that although racism still exists, New Labour’s policies of promoting race equality in the last decade have helped to create a society that is more comfortable with diversity than ever before. So as usual, our chattering class multi-culturalist politicians miss the point completely. Race isn’t the issue – people don’t give a toss about colour. But religion most certainly is a growing issue. And despite what misguided cretins like Mr Denham say, burying brave British soldiers who are fighting a “diverse” creed in Afghanistan isn’t “comfortable” – and the next time some rabid Brit-born Islamic fundamentalist...

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair hoped right until the eve of the invasion of Iraq that the crisis over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction could be resolved peacefully, former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell (pictured above) said today.  Giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry, Mr Campbell said Mr Blair’s “instinct” had always been that Britain should join the Americans if it came to unilateral military action.  However, he insisted that right up to the House of Commons vote on March 18 2003, Mr Blair had held out the hope Saddam Hussein could be disarmed through the United Nations. Now far be it for this humble blog to gainsay pearls of wisdom from Mr Campbell – but I seem to recall – and so do most others –  that when...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-baiting petition here. Most recent sig comment: “The Best PM this Country had. Shame on the media.” Comment at end 10th January, 2010 Anjem Choudary outside Parliament, London. Over this building he aims to hoist the flag of Islam. Forestalling reports that this “march” was about to be banned by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as early as Monday, Anjem Choudary has decided to dump the idea of marching though Wootton Bassett. This is the small market town in England where the war dead are repatriated. This crazy idea from Islam4UK was meant to draw attention to the war dead in Afghanistan … further the cause of the Islamification of this country. A...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-baiting petition here. Most recent sig comment: “The Best PM this Country had. Shame on the media.” Comment at end 8th January, 2010 RECRUITED IN LONDON, SAYS YEMEN This claim is disputed by the British government, of course. But it should hardly surprise us, if true.  I mentioned this possibility here at this blog. We have known this has been going on for years in our universities, and in particular in our “bogus” colleges. In fact it was only due to this man’s attempt to come back to Britain to join such a fake establishment that the government prevented his entry. Somehow or other though, for some reason or other, they forgot to explain to our...

Fierce condemnation as last-ditch attempt to prevent death of Akmal Shaikh, 53, failsChina was this morning condemned for its human rights record after a British man who, his supporters say, had mental health problems, was executed for smuggling drugs.Akmal Shaikh, 53, was shot dead by a firing squad at 10.30am local time (2.30am British time) after frantic last-minute pleas for clemency by the Foreign Office failed.Britain had demonstrated its anger with Beijing over the treatment of Shaikh, who had smuggled 4kg (8.8lb) of heroin into China, when it summoned the Chinese ambassador for a diplomatic dressing down at the Foreign Office.In what was described as a "full and frank exchange of views", the Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis asked Fu Ying for clemency and outlined Britain's...

Fears raised that country is becoming stronghold for new generation of al-Qaida-inspired fightersA number of Britons have travelled to Yemen to train at secret terrorist camps, counter-terrorism officials revealed today, raising fears that the country is becoming a stronghold for a new generation of al-Qaida-inspired fighters.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose failed attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 is the focus of an urgent global investigation, claimed he was trained in Yemen and that senior al-Qaida operatives in that country supplied the device used in the plot.Tonight senior UK counter-terrorism officials said MI5 was aware of several British nationals and British residents who had trained at camps in Yemen's "ungoverned spaces" in the last year.Security officials in...

Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne today tackled Alan Johnson on his decision not to block the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s, to the USA. (LDV has previously covered the story here). Their exchange in the Commons today is recorded below, and you can read the whole Hansard debate here: Chris Huhne (Eastleigh) (LD): The Home Secretary is, in my view, a very brave man to hold out his judgment of the medical condition—and of the worsening of the medical condition—of Gary McKinnon against such overwhelming evidence as we have heard from the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Burrowes). Gary McKinnon is a vulnerable British citizen who has become more vulnerable and whose interests are being ignored in favour of an unequal treaty with the...

• Home secretary says hacker's fate is 'heavy burden'• Timeline: Gary McKinnon's fight against extraditionHome secretary Alan Johnson has defended his decision not to step into the case of Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon, who faces extradition to the United States for breaking into US government computers eight years ago.McKinnon, 43, is due to be extradited to Virginia amid allegations that he caused hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of damage to US government computers - but campaigners say he should be tried in the UK.Last week Johnson said he did not have the power to intervene, and today reiterated his reasoning after McKinnon's MP, David Burrowes, tabled an urgent question in parliament."I'm the only person who can make this decision and I have to make it on the basis...

Residents who want £30 card can enrol at offices in city centre and at airportIdentity cards will be available to people living in Manchester from today.The scheme's launch was overshadowed by the revelation that the cards are only available to people who already have a passport or whose passport expired this year.Anyone else wanting a £30 card will first have to sign up for a passport at a cost of £77.50.Phil Booth, from the campaign group NO2ID, said: "The government claims that ID cards are a handy alternative to a passport are bogus."You have to have one already, so you will pay another £30 and set yourself up for a lifetime of fees, penalties and compliance."Once you are on the database, you will be obliged to update Whitehall's register on you for the rest of your life."A Home...

Social scientists now need to take a leaf out of David Nutt's book, and speak out on bad policies – yet recognise politics is an artThe latest culture clash between politics and science sent a spasm of anger and alarm through every academic discipline. The sacking of Professor David Nutt as head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was a salutary warning to scientists that they risk being trampled underfoot when they take even unpaid government posts. Speaking truth to power is dangerous, so now they await the chief scientific adviser's imminent report on advisers' freedom to speak their mind.Remember how Sir David King, Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, was forced to eat his words when he rightly called climate change a greater threat than terrorism. The sorry tale of...

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon said to be at serious risk of suicide after home secretary allows his extradition to the USThe mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon has criticised the home secretary's decision to extradite her son to the US as "disgusting".McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, is said to be at serious risk of suicide after Alan Johnson rejected a last-ditch attempt to prevent his extradition.In a letter today the home secretary ordered McKinnon's removal to the US on charges of breaching US military and Nasa computers, despite claims by his lawyers that extradition would make the 43-year-old's death "virtually certain"."The secretary of state is of the firm view that McKinnon's extradition would not be incompatible with his [human] rights," said the letter, dated 26...

Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne has slammed the decision of Labour’s Alan Johnson to refuse to block the extradition of Gary McKinnon – the self-confessed computer hacker with Asperger’s – to the US on medical grounds. It is appalling that this Government places a higher value on a deeply unfair extradition agreement than it does on the welfare of a British citizen. Alan Johnson has shamefully turned down the opportunity to demonstrate his faith in British justice and save a vulnerable man from a lifetime in prison or worse. “The Home Secretary must now step in and ensure that this sorry saga is ended once and for all by trying Gary McKinnon in this country. The Home Secretary should stop being an American poodle and start being a British bulldog.”...

Alan Johnson says “We are now looking at a watershed election, à la 1945, à la 1979, more so than 1997.” Tagged: Alan Johnson...

With David Miliband not taking an EU job there were unsurprisingly a few whispers that there might be another coup attempt in the offing somewhen before the next elections.  I personally do not think an attempt will now be made to usurp the Prime Minister.  The plotters have already failed to remove the least most popular Prime Minister in recent history, which really shows what little strength they truly have.  Besides, any challenge would almost certainly now trigger an early General Election rather than a leadership contest and too many Labour MP's stand to lose too much money if they get sent home early.Anyway, the keen eye is on Ministers and ex-Ministers to see who will move first, and who is posturing now ready for a post General Election Labour leadership...

Alan Johnson will finally announce the Government’s proposals for keeping details of innocent people on the DNA database today in a written statement.Given the contentious nature of the database you’d think they’d give people a chance to debate it in the House.But on this issue they’ve not been shy about squeezing things through on the quiet where possible.As expected Johnson will say that the Government wants to retain the details of innocent people on the database for up to six years.It’s a course of action that goes against the spirit, if not the word, of a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling last year.At the time when the Home Office was formulating its response to the ECHR Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said the ruling did not strictly forbid the retention of...

On Monday, Helen brought you news from the Guardian of the dispute between Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris and Home Secretary Alan Johnson. Over the last two days, Dr Harris’s blog has been unmissable as he has been posting details of the correspondence on his blog, along with the consequences. A fisking of Alan Johnson’s speech in Parliament I was amazed to hear what the Home Secretary said, under privilege, in parliament about a distinguished scientist and sent Alan Johnson the letter below demanding a retraction and apology. A fisking of Alan Johnson’s reply The Home Secretary has now responded to my letter. It is set out below, interwoven with my original letter, and accompanied by comments from me, after consultation with Professor Nutt and Richard Garside...

Alan Johnson has rejected Evan Harris’s claim that he misled MPs in his statement over the sacking of government drugs adviser Professor David Nutt. From the Guardian: Johnson conceded that the Home Office and secretariat for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs had been warned in advance about a paper published by Nutt in an academic journal in January and a presentation he later gave at King’s College London. Johnson cited the paper and the speech when explaining his decision to sack Nutt as chairman of the advisory council. Harris said Johnson was wrong to suggest Nutt was launching an unauthorised campaign against government policy. Johnson replied that although the Home Office knew about the article, he was not told the presentation would be published three months...

“We don’t have an open-door policy. It is misleading to say we have got one or that we have ever had one. We manage immigration.” - Alan Johnson, who clearly has not heard of the European Union, speaking to the Independent (full article HERE)...

Justice secretary concerned at use of fines and cautions for serious offencesThe way "instant justice" cautions are used to deal with some offences involving violence, including 40,000 assaults each year, is to be reviewed after concerns raised by magistrates, the director of public prosecutions and senior police officers.The justice secretary, Jack Straw, said that he and the home secretary, Alan Johnson, were concerned at the wide variation around the country in the rates of use of "out of court" penalties by police forces."We have decided, not least because of representations from magistrates … that we shall jointly be announcing a review of the use of out of court disposals, which will be led by the Office of Criminal Justice Reform, and will involve the inspectors of constabulary...

Members of Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs to demand assurance of future independence from home secretary Alan JohnsonMore members of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs are set to resign unless they receive reassurances on its future independence from the home secretary, Alan Johnson.Johnson will meet members of the council on Tuesday, when he will attempt to placate them following the sacking of the council's chairman, Professor David Nutt.Nutt was forced to resign after Johnson accused him of campaigning against ministers' decisions on the reclassification of cannabis and ecstasy. His dismissal prompted a furore among the scientific community and two members of the council resigned in protest. "It's hard to see how the remaining members of the council can...

Drayson was one of the smarter pigs on Manor Farm he was an Oxford Sandy and Black by breed. After Mr Nutt the Pharmacist was driven away from Manor farm by Johnson the Eastern Yorkshire, Brown the Scottish Saddleback charged Drayson with creating some rules by which all the animals could settle their grievances.After a few days of thought he came to Brown and said he was ready. All the...

Firstly, a disclaimer: I am a scientist, who is also interested in governance and politics, so the following post may come across as somewhat heated. Apologies, but I do feel that the recent furore over Prof. David Nutt’s sacking as Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) goes right to the heart of why I took up both science and politics as profession and interest respectively. We begin with Prof. Nutt’s most recent criticism of the government’s drugs policy, which attracted headlines for claiming that alcohol, despite being legal and freely available, was more harmful than the Class A narcotic ecstasy (MDMA). At first sight this may seem like an outlandish statement to make, but the evidence, collated by Prof. Nutt, suggests otherwise; granted, the recent...

2 Big Stories Tory trouble as Lisbon Treaty passes As the Czech President Vaclav Klaus ratified the EU’s Lisbon Treaty – now set to become law within a few weeks – the Conservative Party once again finds itself risking deep divisions over Europe rising to the surface. As the Daily Express reports: [William Hague] denied that the party had broken any promises by dropping the referendum pledge. “A British referendum until this very day would have meant that the Lisbon Treaty wouldn’t enter into force if people voted no. The position of president of the European Council, the foreign minister of Europe, would never have been implemented,” he said. “We were very clear that our promise applied to those circumstances. After today, those things will come into force and...

Presumably if you’re reading this you’ve heard that Alan Johnson demanded David Nutt resign as head of something called the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for comments he made in a speech reproduced as a pamphlet you can download. I have read his speech. It’s quite interesting. It discusses of the intentions of the drug classification system, criticises the current implementation, and offers a proposal for and justification of an alternative based on a systematic comparison the effects of a range of drugs, according to criteria decided by the public. This is complete with references, and in short exactly the sort of thing a Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology should be doing and while it’s not perfect I honestly can’t imagine why...

Appropriately named Professor David Nutt, who was chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, was finally sacked last week for saying things the the Government - and more importantly, the Daily Mail - did not agree with. He hissed that alcohol and tobacco were more dangerous than the murderous devil weed cannabis, and that riding ponies was more of a risk to your health than stuffing your face with ecstasy and washing it down with Vodka.What Nutt wanted to do was to dictate "evidence" based "research" to the Government, blinding them with "facts" too distasteful to be true. His pernicious brand of empiricism threatened to undermine the common sense belief that drugs are bad mkay and was rightly crushed. But even more frighteningly, his dogmatic adherance to the religion of...

Memo from the Home Office:From the Inquisition Chamber,Home Office,Whitehall,SW1Effective Immediately.We have listened to scientific advise, and after a review and decided that we know best after all, therefore in the this the year of our Lord Mandelson 2 we declare:The earth is flat and all globes shall be taken from schools and places of learning forthwith and beaten into a level playing...

Alan Johnson is one of the few members of this government I like. I have said before he passes the pint test. He is someone who would be very good company in one of the many hostelries of Hull. This weekend though, I can't quite get my head around his thinking.Professor David Nutt gave his expert opinion. Alan Johnson disagrees. As the Home Secretary is the man who has to make a final decision, I have no problem with him saying he is not going to go along with Prof. Nutt's advice, but I do have a problem with him not saying why, otherwise what is the point of having advisers?Mr Johnson has shown himself as a man who doesn't know what he is talking about; has to stick to the party line and does what any bully would do; get rid of the person who is challenging him. Not that the...