“There is more than one kind of freedom… Freedom to and freedom from”. Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale.
I’m dealing with this in a separate post than the other films, because I want to spend more time discussing the issues it raises than actually reviewing the film. For what its worth, as a film I’d give it 3/5. It’s entertaining enough to hold you attention, with enough humour to balance the heavier moments (some of the middle class protestors featured really are appealingly bonkers – the woman who presents her application to protest at the police station on the icing of a cake being particularly appealing). The tone is more level than you might get with, say a Michael Moore film. Writer/director Chris Atkins also keeps himself behind the camera for most of the film. There is of course an absence of contrary voices – soundbites from Messers Blair, Bush and Brown used more to condemn, than to give voice.
It over-reaches itself in a few places – the early comparison with Nazi Germany is overly simplistic. There the destruction of civil liberties formed more part of an organised plan to certain ends. Here it is more in overly hasty response to terrorists events and threats. A later comparison with internment in Northern Ireland is far more relevant. There are also insinuations of conspiracy between Sussex police and a Brighton based weapons manufacturer which aren’t backed up with enough evidence, but the sight of an 80 year old WW2 RAF veteran being dragged along the ground by officers is damning enough.
Atkins’ argument is a simple one – that successive anti-terror laws have eroded basic civil liberties – namely freedom of speech, right to protest, right to privacy, habeas corpus, ban on torture, etc… Most of the evidence he cites is not new – from protests disrupted in this country to Guantanamo and rendition flights, but is maybe more powerful all placed together. There are moving and thought-provoking views from survivors of the 7/7 bombings, from the parents of girls arrested at a peaceful environmental protest at East Midlands Airport and Boris Johnston making more sense than he’s ever made before.
One of the most powerful sections concerned one of the men charged in the so-called Ricin threat – despite being acquitted (and interviews with jurors here show the lack of evidence that was presented in court) his is still deemed a security threat and kept under effective house arrest with no charge and no ability to appeal. He also faces the threat of deportation to Algeria, where he could face torture.
I’ve said before that I don’t believe Tony Blair has any evil intention or conspiracy. I think he has genuinely tried to act in the country’s best interests, but we must question the outcome of some of this legislation. Mr Blair has repeatedly said that we must not let the terrorists change our way of life, but this seems to be exactly what he has achieved – the erosion of liberties in the name of protecting freedom. It’s all rather contradictory. The government, backed by some sections of the media, seem to have created a culture of fear or terror, which makes me feel like we’ve already lost the war on terror.
The other question is do these laws actually make us any safer. I’ve yet to see any arguments that they do. Terrorists are just as capable of carrying an ID card and filling in the forms to get permission to protest outside Westminister as anyone. The guy who flew the 9/11 plane into the twin towers did so carrying an entirely legitimate passport. Whilst greater powers for the authorities to detain without trial or silence protestors, in my opinion, make us less safe not more safe.
The War in Iraq.
I don’t go with the view, expressed in the film, that the invasion of Iraq was a bad idea because it increased the threat of reprisals. The war was either right or wrong on its own merits, not because of what might happen – that to me seems to be playing the terrorists’ game and letting fear govern us. Personally, I think it was unjustified and illegal and the government did mislead us in the run-up, albeit from motives I believe were genuine.
What the film highlights, is that the war has actually thrown us into alliance with regimes who we were previously denouncing – Libya and Algeria, for example. Expediency has won the day (comparisons with the arms to Saudi Arabia bribery scandal are obvious) and this from a government who came in promising an ethical foreign policy. In practical terms, it means that we are acting off information obtained under torture and it could (and maybe has already) lead to people who oppose these oppressive regimes and are refugees here, being labelled terrorists.
Where the Rubber hits the road.
What are the hopes for this changing? Mr Brown clearly won’t reverse things and David Cameron has given no indication he would either. But, as the comedian Mark Thomas points out towards the end of the film – there are checks and balances in our system – and it’s us. Have we grown so used to our liberties that we’re all a bit apathetic about it, until one day we wake up and its too late. So while we can, make some noise, find out what’s going on and do something about it. For more information and what you can do about it, check out sites like Amnesty and NO2ID, go see the film, decide what you think and do something about it. Things might not be bad at the moment (I’m aware that writing these views about the government in certain other countries (like Turkey or Egypt, where bloggers have been arrested) would lead to my arrest), but I am concerned about the direction they’re going in and its time for it change.
I’m dealing with this in a separate post than the other films, because I want to spend more time discussing the issues it raises than actually reviewing the film. For what its worth, as a film I’d give it 3/5. It’s entertaining enough to hold you attention, with enough humour to balance the heavier moments (some of the middle class protestors featured really are appealingly bonkers – the woman who presents her application to protest at the police station on the icing of a cake being particularly appealing). The tone is more level than you might get with, say a Michael Moore film. Writer/director Chris Atkins also keeps himself behind the camera for most of the film. There is of course an absence of contrary voices – soundbites from Messers Blair, Bush and Brown used more to condemn, than to give voice.
It over-reaches itself in a few places – the early comparison with Nazi Germany is overly simplistic. There the destruction of civil liberties formed more part of an organised plan to certain ends. Here it is more in overly hasty response to terrorists events and threats. A later comparison with internment in Northern Ireland is far more relevant. There are also insinuations of conspiracy between Sussex police and a Brighton based weapons manufacturer which aren’t backed up with enough evidence, but the sight of an 80 year old WW2 RAF veteran being dragged along the ground by officers is damning enough.
Atkins’ argument is a simple one – that successive anti-terror laws have eroded basic civil liberties – namely freedom of speech, right to protest, right to privacy, habeas corpus, ban on torture, etc… Most of the evidence he cites is not new – from protests disrupted in this country to Guantanamo and rendition flights, but is maybe more powerful all placed together. There are moving and thought-provoking views from survivors of the 7/7 bombings, from the parents of girls arrested at a peaceful environmental protest at East Midlands Airport and Boris Johnston making more sense than he’s ever made before.
One of the most powerful sections concerned one of the men charged in the so-called Ricin threat – despite being acquitted (and interviews with jurors here show the lack of evidence that was presented in court) his is still deemed a security threat and kept under effective house arrest with no charge and no ability to appeal. He also faces the threat of deportation to Algeria, where he could face torture.
I’ve said before that I don’t believe Tony Blair has any evil intention or conspiracy. I think he has genuinely tried to act in the country’s best interests, but we must question the outcome of some of this legislation. Mr Blair has repeatedly said that we must not let the terrorists change our way of life, but this seems to be exactly what he has achieved – the erosion of liberties in the name of protecting freedom. It’s all rather contradictory. The government, backed by some sections of the media, seem to have created a culture of fear or terror, which makes me feel like we’ve already lost the war on terror.
The other question is do these laws actually make us any safer. I’ve yet to see any arguments that they do. Terrorists are just as capable of carrying an ID card and filling in the forms to get permission to protest outside Westminister as anyone. The guy who flew the 9/11 plane into the twin towers did so carrying an entirely legitimate passport. Whilst greater powers for the authorities to detain without trial or silence protestors, in my opinion, make us less safe not more safe.
The War in Iraq.
I don’t go with the view, expressed in the film, that the invasion of Iraq was a bad idea because it increased the threat of reprisals. The war was either right or wrong on its own merits, not because of what might happen – that to me seems to be playing the terrorists’ game and letting fear govern us. Personally, I think it was unjustified and illegal and the government did mislead us in the run-up, albeit from motives I believe were genuine.
What the film highlights, is that the war has actually thrown us into alliance with regimes who we were previously denouncing – Libya and Algeria, for example. Expediency has won the day (comparisons with the arms to Saudi Arabia bribery scandal are obvious) and this from a government who came in promising an ethical foreign policy. In practical terms, it means that we are acting off information obtained under torture and it could (and maybe has already) lead to people who oppose these oppressive regimes and are refugees here, being labelled terrorists.
Where the Rubber hits the road.
What are the hopes for this changing? Mr Brown clearly won’t reverse things and David Cameron has given no indication he would either. But, as the comedian Mark Thomas points out towards the end of the film – there are checks and balances in our system – and it’s us. Have we grown so used to our liberties that we’re all a bit apathetic about it, until one day we wake up and its too late. So while we can, make some noise, find out what’s going on and do something about it. For more information and what you can do about it, check out sites like Amnesty and NO2ID, go see the film, decide what you think and do something about it. Things might not be bad at the moment (I’m aware that writing these views about the government in certain other countries (like Turkey or Egypt, where bloggers have been arrested) would lead to my arrest), but I am concerned about the direction they’re going in and its time for it change.
"When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty" - Thomas Jefferson
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