Convoy vehicles released but three still held with no charge as government creates a 'state of fear'

- Security services 'convoy plot' falling apart
- British government directed torture
- Britain in 'state of fear'

Well the plot seems to be unraveling rather quickly - the police plot that is. Again, as predicted on this blog they have not found anything in the vehicles, and no doubt we will have the same result for the five house searches in Burnley.

As ex-spy chief Rimington points out - in a wonderfully apt juxtaposition at the BBC this morning - the government is creating a 'state of fear' with the terror laws. What she didn't say is that this 'convoy plot' is just one more example of this government's policy of fear mongering.

It's also been suggested that the the reason for the seizure was that the humanitarian aid included computers. So it is now also a crime to be a Muslim or anti-war activist while in charge of a vehicle and a computer. Hopefully the three people being held in custody are released soon. If any of them are charged we make another prediction - it's a fit up.

From the BBC

A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to restrict civil liberties.

Dame Stella Rimington, 73, said people in Britain felt as if they were living "under a police state" because of the fear being spread by ministers.

And also from the BBC today

Three vehicles seized as they travelled to join a Gaza aid convoy have been released by counter-terrorism officers.

The two vans and an ambulance were travelling to London to join the convoy when they were stopped on the M65 near Preston, Lancashire, on Friday.

But in addition to the repression above, yesterday also saw the introduction of a law under Section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 making it illegal to take a picture of a police officer in Britain, again in the name of the war on terror. More at Indymedia.








Most damningly for the government the Guardian reports today that the government had a direct hand in 'devising torture methods for British citizens and residents:

A policy governing the interrogation of terrorism suspects in Pakistan that led to British citizens and residents such as Binyam Mohamed (pictured), being tortured was devised by MI5 lawyers and figures in government, according to evidence heard in court...

...A medical student from London who was held for almost two months in a building opposite the offices of the British deputy high commission in Karachi says he was tortured while being questioned about the 2005 London bombings before being questioned by British intelligence officers. He was released without charge and is now working at a hospital on the south coast of England, but is thought to remain deeply traumatised.

So who the hell are these criminals in government that have flagrantly breached the international convention against torture?

It also transpires that the 42 US documents seen by the judges but not disclosed to the public who thought they had been leaned on by the US, were deceived. The British government in fact wrote to the US asking them to send a letter saying any disclosure would damaged security co-operation.