Market trader gets a criminal record for selling fruit and veg by the pound

Daily Mail 8th October 2008

A market trader was convicted yesterday of selling fruit and vegetables using imperial measures – even though the EU says it should not be an offence.

Metric martyr Janet Devers, 64, said she had been made a 'scapegoat' after being sentenced for selling goods on her market stall in pounds rather than kilos.

The mother of two fought back tears as she was ordered by magistrates to pay almost £5,000 in costs and told she would have a criminal record after being found guilty of eight offences under the Weights and Measures Act.

The metric martyr: Janet Devers has been convicted of selling vegetables on her stall in pounds rather than kilos

As part of the landmark case, the greengrocer was also convicted of selling vegetables for £1 a bowl rather than counting them out individually – a practice commonplace amongst Britain's 40,000 market traders who use bowls to help customers baffled by grams and kilograms.

Now the pensioner, from Wanstead, East London, faces financial ruin as the costs of fighting the case could see her lose her market stall in nearby Dalston.

It has been in the family for more than 60 years since her mother Irene Hunt became one of the first woman to run a stall in the East End during the Blitz.

The verdict, which has outraged campaigners, comes a year after EU said it would no longer force Britain to adopt the metric system of weights and measures.

It became illegal to sell any goods in Britain in non-metric weights and measures under the EU's compulsory metrication policy in 2000.

In September last year, Gunther Verheugen, European Commission vice president for enterprise and industry, said Brussels never intended to criminalise those who sold in pounds and ounces.

But the laws under which Mrs Devers was prosecuted are still on the UK statute books.

Just a few days after Mr Verheugen made his remarks trading standards officials from Hackney Council, supported by two police officers, arrived at Mrs Devers's market stall to confiscate two sets of imperial, non-metric scales.

Today, at Thames Magistrates' Court, in the first UK prosecution since the EU ruling, she was convicted of using imperial scales without an official stamp and selling scotch bonnet peppers, okra, pak choi and peppers in bowls for £1 without giving the quantity or weight of produce in the bowl.

The pensioner was given a two-year conditional discharge, although magistrates accepted that she was only trying to offer customers value for money.

Dr Patrick Davies, chairman of the bench, said: 'We note that you said you were doing this in the interests of your customers, although you ought to have known you were breaking the law in doing so.'

Outside court Mrs Devers said: 'I'm incredibly worried about my financial future. I can't believe they prosecuted me for something that every market trader in London - in the UK - is doing. I've been made a scapegoat.

'The fact that they have given me a conditional discharge just shows that they think it is a big mistake to take me to court.

'Having a criminal record means I can't go and see my cousins in America. My daughter wants to go and live out there which means I might not see her. It's farcical.'

A spokesman for Hackney Council said: 'We are satisfied with the outcome of this case, but regret that legal action is required. It would have been much better if Mrs Devers had complied with the law 18 months ago.'

Anyone wanting to contribute to Mrs Devers's costs can send donations to the Metric Martyrs Defence Fund, PO Box 526, Sunderland, SR1 3YS.

British identity cards will be covered in EU symbols

Daily Mail 26th September 2008

Britain's first identity card in more than half a century was unveiled yesterday - and turned out to be covered in EU symbols to satisfy Brussels.

The plastic card, which will be issued to foreign citizens in Britain starting in November, marks the first stage in the Government's ambitious scheme to issue biometric ID cards to all UK residents at a cost of billions of pounds.

But serious questions remain over whether the system will work or bring any practical benefits, and doubts were underlined yesterday as the Conservatives pledged to scrap the entire venture if they win the next General Election.



Foreigners issued with the cards will not have to show them to get a job or use services such as the NHS and schools, and it remains unclear if or when public services or private firms will install computerised scanners to make use of the costly biometric technology.

The card revealed by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith yesterday features a picture of a bull above EU- style golden stars, while the coloured background is made up of hundreds of tiny letters spelling 'EU'. The bull is a European Union symbol drawn from Greek mythology.

Last night the Home Office admitted that British ID cards had to follow a common design as set out in a Brussels directive to ensure that every card issued by EU states looks similar.

Each card, which will cost £30, carries unique biometric data in the form of a photograph and the individual's fingerprints stored digitally.

Miss Smith said up to 60,000 cards will be distributed by next March to non-EU foreign citizens resident in Britain as they renew their visas. These cardswill be compulsory.

Ministers hope the first cards for British citizens, featuring a slightly different design, will be issued next year, starting with workers in sensitive locations such as ' airside' staff at UK airports. These will also be compulsory, but airport operators and unions object strongly, and could yet scupper the plans.

From 2010 the Government will encourage all young Britons to apply for a card on a voluntary basis, extending the scheme to all citizens and foreign residents from 2011.



Ministers hope that when enough people have cards Parliament will agree to make them compulsory.

They claim the scheme will cost £4.7billion in its first ten years, although that does not include the substantial cost of installing scanners at huge numbers of sites including NHS clinics, town halls and benefits offices to check identities and entitlements.

Miss Smith insisted the cards would protect against identity fraud, illegal working, and help people prove their identity easily.

Critics claim the failure to make the cards universal for foreign citizens makes a mockery of the supposed security benefits.

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve dismissed the entire scheme as an 'expensive white elephant' which should be ditched.

He said: 'Ministers are kidding themselves if they think ID cards for foreign nationals will protect against illegal immigration or terrorism.'

Liberal Democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'It does not matter how fancy the design is, ID cards remain a grotesque intrusion on the liberty of the British people.

'The Government is using vulnerable members of our society, like foreign nationals who do not have the vote, as guinea pigs for a deeply unpopular and unworkable policy.

'When voting adults are forced to carry ID cards, this scheme will prove to be a laminated poll tax.'

Now Europe wants us to keep headlights on ALL day - inflating fuel costs by up to £160 a year

Daily Mail 25 September 2008

Drivers face paying up to £160 a year more for fuel because of an EU directive forcing them to keep their headlamps on all day.

The European Commission wants all new passenger cars and vans to have lights that stay on while the engine is running.

It is estimated that this will increase fuel consumption by around 5 per cent.



The directive, which is being sent to the European Parliament for final approval, would come into force in February 2011.

Truck and bus manufacturers would have an extra 18 months to meet the new specifications.

Timothy Kirkhope, Tory transport spokesman in the European Parliament, said daylight running could make roads more dangerous.

'If all cars have lights on, there is a concern that drivers start looking out for lights, rather than pedestrians or cyclists,' he said.

'At a time when we are pushing for reductions in the use of fuel and resultant emissions, we must be certain we are not causing extra carbon emissions without an additional benefit.'

Britain has opposed the measure but is unable to block it because a majority of other EU nations were in favour and transport issues are not subject to veto.

According to the AA, the fuel bill for a typical family car would rise by £68 a year and by as much as &£160 a year for less efficient larger models.

Heavy goods vehicles would see costs shoot up by £260 a year.

Green campaigners say the ruling, which will be in force from Lapland in the north to Cyprus in the south, will waste fuel.

Daytime-running lights were made compulsory in Scandinavian countries in the late 1970s - which is why Swedish-built Volvos always have their lights on.

In 2006, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic-became the first outside of Northern Europe to follow suit. Daytime lights are used in 14 states.

A Dutch study found they could prevent 5,500 deaths and 155,000 injuries across Europe.

But Tory MP Greg Knight said: 'This idea was being pushed by Scandinavian countries and it's absolutely ludicrous that it should be imposed in a blanket fashion across Europe.

'The UK does not suffer from the short hours of daylight as in northern Europe, and places like Spain certainly don't.'

The proposal has been opposed by Stephen Ladyman, who was a transport minister during earlier discussions and is now a backbencher.

He said: 'This directive will kill a lot of motorcyclists. They use daytime lights to make them easier to see but if cars are using them as well, motorbikes will blur into the background.'

Foreign national ID card unveiled

BBC News 25 September 2008

The first identity cards from the government's controversial national scheme are due to be revealed.

The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders.

The design - containing a picture and digitally-stored fingerprints - is a precursor to the proposed national identity card scheme.

Critics say the roll-out to some immigrants is a "softening up" exercise to win over a sceptical general public.

The card, to be unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, will also include information on holders' immigration status.

The UK Border Agency will begin issuing the biometric cards to the two categories of foreign nationals who officials say are most at risk of abusing immigration rules - students and those on a marriage or civil partnership visa.

Both types of migrants will be told they must have the new card when they ask to extend their stay in the country.

The cards partly replace a paper-based system of immigration stamps - but will now include the individual's name and picture, their nationality, immigration status and two fingerprints.

Immigration officials will store the details centrally and, in time, they are expected to be merged into the proposed national identity register.

The card cannot be issued to people from most parts of Europe because they have the right to move freely in and out of the UK.

Ministers say the cards will combat illegal immigration and working because officials, employers and educational establishments will be able to check a migrant's entitlements more easily.

The Conservatives say they support modern biometric cards for immigrants - but they say a national identity register remains unworkable.

Phil Booth, head of the national No2ID campaign group, attacked the roll-out of the cards as a "softening-up exercise".

"The Home Office is trying to salami slice the population to get this scheme going in any way they can," Mr Booth told the BBC.

"Once they get some people to take the card it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

"The volume of foreign nationals involved is minuscule so it won't do anything to tackle illegal immigration.

"They've basically picked on a group of people who have no possibility of objecting to the card - they either comply or they are out."

Drivers face 20 fine leaving engines running traffic jams

Daily Mail 17th September 2008

Drivers could be charged £20 if they run their engines while stuck in traffic

Motorists could face £20 spot fines if they leave their engines running while stuck in traffic.

Traffic wardens will be able to issue the penalties - after a warning - in a bid to cut down on pollution.

A pilot scheme is due to be launched in January in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, and will be expanded if it proves successful. West Sussex Council said it would target areas where exhaust emissions build up unnecessarily, such as rail crossings and town centres.

But drivers branded the plans yet another round of the war on the motorist. The AA pointed out that to switch off an engine and start up again within a minute actually uses more fuel than letting it idle.

Cabbie Roger Turner, 30, said he was disgusted with the idea,

adding: 'Who gave them the right to tell us to switch off our engines?

'It's not like we try to waste fuel, but can you imagine what would happen if everyone starts shutting off their engines?

'The ones I feel sorry for are the old dears, who won't know what's going on and could end with a £20 fine for not turning off the engine in their Fiat Panda. It's another example of the nanny state.'

West Sussex Council has already set up two Air Quality Management Areas in Shoreham, many of whose 20,000 residents are elderly.

A spokesman said: 'We want to get people out of the habit of leaving their cars ticking over out of convenience.

'We would stress that this is just an investigation at this stage. If it were ever introduced the fixed penalty would probably be £20, but we would hope the vast majority of motorists would be willing to cooperate. Air pollution is a particularly important issue for our residents, particularly those with asthma, lung and heart conditions.'

Signs have been put up at level crossings, telling drivers to switch off when the barriers are down.

AA spokesman Paul Watters said: 'We hope councils will not adopt a heavy-handed attitude with this. There is a huge difference between running the engine for less than a minute at the traffic lights and idling for a quarter of an hour.

'If you are stuck in a traffic jam and a warden slaps a ticket on your windscreen, that is ridiculous. The danger of everyone switching off in a jam is that some may not start up again. And then there's gridlock.'

Mr Watters added: 'The legislation allowing councils to impose such fines has been on the statute books for a few years, but few drivers are aware of it.'

The Department for Transport said it had issued guidance to councils stressing that they should not issue a £20 penalty notice without first giving drivers a warning.

Rule 123 of the Highway Code says: 'If the vehicle is stationary and likely to remain so for more than a couple of minutes, you should switch off the engine to reduce emissions and oil pollution.

'However, it is permissible to leave the engine running if the vehicle is stationary in traffic.'

Why turning the engine off in traffic might not be that green after all...

A car engine is at its most inefficient when it is idling, the AA said last night, but turning off the engine is not necessarily an improvement.

A spokesman explained: 'In terms of emissions, the catalytic converter only works properly when it's hot, and it cools down when idling.

'This means emission levels of gases and hydrocarbons will rise.

'Our own fuel consumption tests showed that a car uses somewhere between 0.36 and 0.78 litres an hour when idling - so that's no miles per litre, but plenty of carbon dioxide and more toxic emissions.'

An hour of idling can produce around 2.36kg of carbon dioxide - the 'greenhouse gas' blamed by scientists for global warming.

But switching an engine off is not necessarily a better option, the AA warns.

A burst of fuel is needed to start an engine, so switching it off and then on again seconds later actually uses more fuel than idling and produces more emissions.

The AA said: 'For less than a minute it is not fuel efficient to switch off because you will use more fuel starting up than you will save. It only becomes fuel efficient to switch off if you are going to be stopped for a minute or more.'

UK Lockdown point of view
Another example of the Green Mafia working hand in hand with the thieving criminal government to exploit motorists for simply being caught in traffic jams, keeping in mind that many traffic jams are due to excessive and unnecessary road works and poor phasing of the traffic light system the parasites that run this system are simply charging us for problems created by them on purpose in order to enable stealth taxation via tyrannical legislation; our government has been subverted by Zionist parasites and we must realise that if we are to realise what is really going on.

Adults spotted without children to be interrogated by park wardens

Daily Mail 10th September 2008

Telford Town Park in Shropshire, where council workers have been told to confront lone adults in the park to check if they are paedophiles

Park wardens have been ordered to stop and interrogate anyone who is not accompanied by children.

The visitors who are quizzed have to explain their presence and risk being thrown out or reported to police if their answers are not satisfactory.

The policy has been introduced at Telford Town Park in Shropshire. The council which manages the 420-acre area says it is a 'commonsense approach' aimed at safeguarding children.

But park users accused it of 'authoritarian madness' and said the ruling risked panicking parents about the dangers faced from potential paedophiles.

The policy came to light after two environmental campaigners dressed as penguins were thrown out of the park last month when caught handing out leaflets on climate change.

Telford and Wrekin Council said Rachel Whittaker and Neil Donaldson were ejected because they had not undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks or risk assessments before entering the park - a requirement under the Child Protection Act.

David Ottley, recreation manager at the Tory-run council, said in a letter to a member of the public over that issue: 'Our town park staff approach adults that are not associated with any children in the park and request the reason for them being there.

'In particular, this applies to those areas where children or more vulnerable groups gather.'

Miss Whittaker, 34, from Wellington, near Telford, said the policy carried a 'dangerous implication that if you have a child with you than everything is OK and you won't be questioned'.

Former childcare social worker John Evans said: 'It is authoritarian madness which can only be based on ignorance. It is absurd, it is insulting and it is dangerous as it panics people about the dangers their children face.'

UK Lockdown point of view
Public Parks are now under heavy state surveillance with the criminal government supposedly looking for paedophiles although it must be highlighted that if the state officials really wanted to catch perverted child molesters they wouldn't have to look much further than their own offices, looking for so-called Al CIAda hasn't given the Zionist-communist scum that run and own our society enough of an excuse to persecute enough citizens so we now all get to be potential paedophiles for the convenience of the shadow government police state.

Council use anti-terror laws to spy on binmen accused of 'accepting strawberry pop bribe to take away trade waste'

Daily Mail 6th September 2008

A council used controversial anti-terror laws to spy on a crew of refuse collectors after receiving a tip-off that they were incorrectly emptying a dustbin.

Officials set up an undercover surveillance operation in an attempt to prove the three binmen were being bribed by a newsagent to take away trade waste when he had not paid the extra fee for it to be collected.

Bury Council in Greater Manchester said the investigation proved that the men had removed trade waste - and it also claimed they had used their refuse truck for ‘pecuniary gain’ because one accepted a bottle of strawberry-flavoured mineral water from the shopkeeper.

Enlarge

In the frame: An image from Bury Council's surveillance of the three binmen

As a result, the refuse collectors, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were suspended on full pay for ten months and then sacked.

But now they have won more than £100,000 between them in an out-of-court settlement after claiming unfair dismissal.

One of the collectors said: ‘I thought the law allowing secret filming was to help protect us from terrorists - not for filming three binmen who might have made a mistake by collecting an extra bin or accepting a bottle of pop.’

The episode is just the latest example of town halls using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) - introduced in 2000 ‘in the interests of national security’ - to investigate trivial offences.

Only nine organisations, including the police and security services, were allowed to use the Act when it was introduced. Now that number has risen to 792, including 474 councils.

The latest figures show councils use it more than 10,000 times a year to spy on residents suspected of crimes including dog fouling and littering.
In April, a council in Dorset used the powers to spy for weeks on a family it wrongly suspected of breaking rules on school catchment areas.

Bury Council informed Greater Manchester Police of its intention to film the binmen in October 2006. An official sat in a car outside Oak Bank News, Mr Amed Naseer’s shop, on three separate occasions.

But one of the binmen said: ‘None of us had been told the shopkeeper had cancelled his agreement with the council to collect his trade waste.

'And anyway, there were three bins at the shop - two for household rubbish and one for glass and tins, but no trade waste. The shopkeeper said he took his trade waste to the local tip.

‘We were also accused of accepting a two-litre bottle of mineral water as a sort of bribe. It was all nonsense.’

The binmen were accused of emptying three bins from a newsagents - but the bins were not trade waste (file pic)

The films, seen by The Mail on Sunday, do not appear to show any evidence of the mineral water or of trade waste being taken by the men. The tribunal was set for June this year but the men reached a settlement just three days before it was due to begin.

As part of the agreement, they are prevented from revealing exactly how much the council paid them.

Brian Bamford, from Unison, the union which represents the binmen, said: ‘The council’s decision to film the men would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious. It is like something from the pages of a George Orwell novel. Now council taxpayers will pick up the bill.’

A Bury Council spokesman said: ‘The council has a duty to investigate allegations that have properly been made. The council considers that the use of its powers under the RIPA in this case were proportionate and lawful.’

£60 to keep your wheelie rat-free

Householders are paying up to £60 a year to have wheelie bins cleaned because the abolition of weekly collections has raised their fears of infestations by rats, lice and maggots.

Specialist companies are being set up to disinfect bins. One firm, the Wheelie Bin Cleaning Service, says it is already washing 200,000 bins a month. Most companies charge £2.50 to £5 per bin.

Environmental scientist Doretta Cocks, founder of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: ‘It is unreasonable that householders already saddled with high council tax bills have to pay extra to keep bins clean as a result of councils cutting collections.’

UK Lockdown point of view
Terror legislation being put to good use against yet more non terrorists, we can all feel safer now that the RIPA law has preserved our national security by helping to spy on refuse collectors and local shopkeepers; terror laws introduced to supposedly aid the police and other security services in the so-called 'war on terror' have now been given to most local councils around the country, due to the criminal policies of this government the slide towards totalitarianism is now closer than ever, you have been warned.

Council bans binmen from cul-de-sacs... because it takes trucks too long to reverse in

Daily Mail 22nd August 2008

A council is refusing to empty rubbish bins inside cul-de-sacs because it takes trucks too long to reverse into them.

Instead, families have been ordered to drag their wheelie bins to the end of the street on collection day.

The decision by Uttlesford District Council in Essex has outraged residents in the six cul-de-sacs which have had their doorstep collections cancelled.

A wheel nightmare: Raymond Kirk stands at the site where he and his fellow residents must take their bins instead of having them collected from outside their homes

They have demanded a cut in council tax  -  and warn that the groups of bins left at the entrance to roads are a safety hazard.

The 200 homes affected were warned of the change in a note left on their bins.

Former policeman Raymond Kirk, 66, of Dunmow, Essex, said residents in his street, some of whom are elderly, now have to drag their bins up to 50 yards to be collected.

He said: 'It's ridiculous. The council makes these announcements and there's nothing you can do.

'The rubbish trucks can easily get down our road, it just takes them a touch longer.

'But it's the council's job to collect our rubbish and our role, as residents, to pay for it.

'We shouldn't have to help them do their job. If we're not getting this service, we should pay less council tax.'

Mr Kirk, whose wife Jill, 67, is blind, added: 'If I was taken ill it would be a nightmare.

'Jill wouldn't be able to drag the bin out on her own.'

Dunmow Conservative councillor John Davey is backing the residents. He said: 'It's highly dangerous to have bins clogging the entrance.

'Driver visibility is reduced and pedestrians are forced into the street. It's an accident waiting to happen.'

Outrage: An Uttlesford District Council bin lorry makes its collections in Dunmow, Essex, where they have been told not to collect bins in cul-de-sacs unless they are left at the end of the street

Penny Sanders, 43, lives at the top of her close and has an unsightly mass of bins left outside her house on collection day.

She said: 'Physically for me it is fine but it means I have a massive bank of wheelie bins on the path outside my house.

'The council tells people to take them back immediately but that isn't always feasible.

'A lot of people who live here work at Heathrow and are away for a few days at a time.'

Russell Clark, Uttlesford's waste and recycling officer, said the number of households in the area had increased from 11,000 to 16,000 within two years.

He said binmen are working an additional two hours a day to cover the increase.

But rather than increase the amount of money spent on waste collection, in line with increased revenue from council tax, Mr Clark said the council is trying to make savings.

He said: 'Creating central collection points reduces the amount of time spent by our operatives trying to manoeuvre either by vehicle or foot into areas that aren't easy to access.

'As the number of houses in our area increases it becomes increasingly difficult to reach them all.

'We would have to increase council tax by about £3 per year to continue to offer a doorstep collection for everyone.'

A Local Government Association spokesman commented: 'It's up to each council how it collects waste and recycling.

'Some towns are full of long housing terraces whereas others have a lot of cul-de-sacs. It's about coming up with the most efficient solution.'

Man banned from using wheelbarrow to take his recycling to rubbish tip - and told to DRIVE there instead

Daily Mail 22nd August 2008

For eight years Andre Wheeler has used his wheelbarrow to take glass, cans, paper and garden waste to the nearby tip.

The walk helps the 61-year-old teacher keep fit as well as do his bit for the environment.

But now officials have decided that wheeling the barrow on to the village site is dangerous - and he must take his rubbish by car instead.

Ban: Andre Wheeler has been told it is dangerous to use his barrow at the dump

Mr Wheeler, who is chairman of the local parish council in Barwell, Leicestershire, said: 'It's too ridiculous for words.They have slapped an Asbo on my wheelbarrow.

'Telling me to burn petrol to drive to the recycling bins is hardly going to save the planet - it's nonsense.

'I passionately believe in recycling and I use the barrow for environmental reasons.

'Walking there keeps me fit - it takes just under ten minutes there and ten minutes back - but now I've been banned from doing it for health and safety reasons.

'The staff at the site said I shouldn't bring the barrow because there's no footpath and I am mingling with cars and could get knocked down.

'I complained to the county council and they said that is the policy and that I was banned.

'But sometimes there's a queue of traffic half a mile long waiting to get into the tip.
'Many times drivers wind their windows down when I walk past and say, "You've got the right idea, mate!".

Mr Wheeler, a design and technology teacher, and his wife Louise, 58, who have two grown-up children, always try and do their bit for the environment. They are careful to recycle all waste at their five-bedroomed home in Barwell, where there is a compost heap at the bottom of the garden.

Mr Wheeler added: 'Councils should actually encourage people to walk to the tip, for environmental and health reasons.

'If they are worried for safety reasons they should build a path.

'It's just not joined-up thinking because what they are really saying is that if you haven't got a car then you can't recycle.'

Leicestershire County Council said: 'Mr Wheeler has been asked not to walk into Barwell recycling and household waste site with his wheelbarrow as staff at the site are concerned about his safety.

'The site is designed for people in vehicles, because users tend to bring bulky waste. Smaller amounts of waste can either be recycled using the local kerbside collection service, or be put into wheelie bins.'

Asked why Mr Wheeler has only now been barred from taking his barrow on to the site, after eight years of doing the same thing without incident, the spokesman said: 'Nationally, there have been a number of recent accidents at such sites involving vehicles and pedestrians. Leicestershire County Council takes the health and safety of both site users and staff extremely seriously.'

But regular tip user Briony White, from Barwell, said: 'I don't see how it is more dangerous to walk with a wheelbarrow than get out of your car and carry things to different skips.

'If you've got a heavy computer to unload, you park by the computer section, unload it, then walk the rest of your lighter stuff round to the relevant areas.

'As far as I know, no one's been killed yet.'

MI5 report challenges views on terrorism in Britain

Guardian
Wednesday August 20 2008

The MI5 reserach document. Photograph: Frank Baron

MI5 has concluded that there is no easy way to identify those who become involved in terrorism in Britain, according to a classified internal research document on radicalisation seen by the Guardian.

The sophisticated analysis, based on hundreds of case studies by the security service, says there is no single pathway to violent extremism.

It concludes that it is not possible to draw up a typical profile of the "British terrorist" as most are "demographically unremarkable" and simply reflect the communities in which they live.

The "restricted" MI5 report takes apart many of the common stereotypes about those involved in British terrorism.

They are mostly British nationals, not illegal immigrants and, far from being Islamist fundamentalists, most are religious novices. Nor, the analysis says, are they "mad and bad".

Those over 30 are just as likely to have a wife and children as to be loners with no ties, the research shows.

The security service also plays down the importance of radical extremist clerics, saying their influence in radicalising British terrorists has moved into the background in recent years.

The research, carried out by MI5's behavioural science unit, is based on in-depth case studies on "several hundred individuals known to be involved in, or closely associated with, violent extremist activity" ranging from fundraising to planning suicide bombings in Britain.

The main findings include:

• The majority are British nationals and the remainder, with a few exceptions, are here legally.

Around half were born in the UK, with others migrating here later in life. Some of these fled traumatic experiences and oppressive regimes and claimed UK asylum, but more came to Britain to study or for family or economic reasons and became radicalised many years after arriving.

• Far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy and could actually be regarded as religious novices.

Very few have been brought up in strongly religious households, and there is a higher than average proportion of converts. Some are involved in drug-taking, drinking alcohol and visiting prostitutes.

MI5 says there is evidence that a well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalisation.

• The "mad and bad" theory to explain why people turn to terrorism does not stand up, with no more evidence of mental illness or pathological personality traits found among British terrorists than is found in the general population.

• British-based terrorists are as ethnically diverse as the UK Muslim population, with individuals from Pakistani, Middle Eastern and Caucasian backgrounds.

MI5 says assumptions cannot be made about suspects based on skin colour, ethnic heritage or nationality.

• Most UK terrorists are male, but women also play an important role. Sometimes they are aware of their husbands', brothers' or sons' activities, but do not object or try to stop them.

• While the majority are in their early to mid-20s when they become radicalised, a small but not insignificant minority first become involved in violent extremism at over the age of 30.

• Far from being lone individuals with no ties, the majority of those over 30 have steady relationships, and most have children.

MI5 says this challenges the idea that terrorists are young men driven by sexual frustration and lured to "martyrdom" by the promise of beautiful virgins waiting for them in paradise. It is wrong to assume that someone with a wife and children is less likely to commit acts of terrorism.

• Those involved in British terrorism are not unintelligent or gullible, and nor are they more likely to be well-educated; their educational achievement ranges from total lack of qualifications to degree-level education. However, they are almost all employed in low-grade jobs.

The researchers conclude that the results of their work "challenge many of the stereotypes that are held about who becomes a terrorist and why".

Crucially, the research has revealed that those who become terrorists "are a diverse collection of individuals, fitting no single demographic profile, nor do they all follow a typical pathway to violent extremism".

The security service believes the terrorist groups operating in Britain today are different in many important respects both from Islamist extremist activity in other parts of the world and from historical terrorist movements such as the IRA or the Red Army Faction.

The "UK restricted" MI5 "operational briefing note", circulated within the security services in June, warns that, unless they understand the varied backgrounds of those drawn to terrorism in Britain, the security services will fail to counter their activities in the short term and fail to prevent violent radicalisation continuing in the long term.

It also concludes that the research results have important lessons for the government's programme to tackle the spread of violent extremism, underlining the need for "attractive alternatives" to terrorist involvement but also warning that traditional law enforcement tactics could backfire if handled badly or used against people who are not seen as legitimate targets.

The MI5 authors stress that the most pressing current threat is from Islamist extremist groups who justify the use of violence "in defence of Islam", but that there are also violent extremists involved in non-Islamist movements.

They say that they are concerned with those who use violence or actively support the use of violence and not those who simply hold politically extreme views.

Pensioners seized by Heathrow police - over 'inflammatory' protest T-shirts

Daily Mail 14th June 2008

Three pensioners were questioned and escorted from Heathrow after police decided the Stop Airport Expansion slogan on their T-shirts was ‘inflammatory’.

Mike Lacey, John Wilding and his wife Tessa were stopped as they tried to join a demonstration against plans for a third runway.

Police took their names, addresses and descriptions and followed them out of a bus terminal, warning they would be arrested if they returned within 24 hours.

Have the anti-terror laws gone too far? Tell us your view below...

Inflammatory: Pensioners Mike Lacey and John Wilding, both in their 70s, were held by police who said their t-shirts breached airport bylaws

Now the three have written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, accusing the officers of harassment and abuse of their ‘stop and search’ powers.

They were stopped despite police knowing that a demonstration against the extra runway was taking place nearby.

Mr Lacey, a 71-year-old grandfather who used to work for Christian Aid, Dr Wilding, also 71 – a retired academic and emeritus reader in psychology at the University of London – and his English teacher wife Tessa, 60, live in Slough, which will be badly affected by noise and pollution if the runway is built.

They were on their way to join a march to the village of Sipson, which is likely to be flattened if the runway goes ahead.

As they walked into the main bus terminal at Heathrow to catch a connecting service, they were stopped by five Met Police officers who accused them of breaching airport bylaws.

Protestors gather outside Hatton Cross underground station on May 31 before marching around the perimeter fence of Heathrow Airport to demonstrate against the plans for a third runway

In a ‘stop and search form’ officers wrote that Mr Lacey was questioned because he had been ‘seen in the bus terminal wearing inflammatory clothes’.

Mr Lacey said: ‘The process took half an hour and the police were unable to give any justification for their behaviour.

‘When we asked why we had been stopped, they said the bus station was private property and only airline passengers and people meeting flights were allowed to use it.

'If that is the case, thousands of people broke the law that day.’

Dr Wilding said: ‘Their manner was overbearing and arrogant. My wife in particular felt intimidated.

'I have no doubt we were singled out because of our T-shirts.’

The protest on May 31 attracted 3,000 demonstrators.

Scotland Yard said a 1996 bylaw enabled police to stop people and ask them to explain what they were doing at the airport, as it was private property.

A spokeswoman added: ‘Three people were stopped and asked to account for their presence. They were not searched.

'The officers correctly interpreted the bylaws.’

UK Lockdown point of view

Daily mail propagandists ask 'have the terror laws gone too far'
UK Lockdown says this sentence should be reworded into the following sentence
'the terror laws have gone too far', this much is obvious to anyone that can see what is happening to our country;
although in reality from the elite's point of view the terror laws haven't gone far enough as it was always their plan to
used terrorism as a smokescreen to remove all of our freedoms that was the plan from the very start to harmonize the laws
in our country with the central control agenda of the NWO EU & the Zionists.

Father of four taken to court and fined ... because he overfilled his wheelie-bin by just four inches

Daily Mail 22 April 2008

With his rubbish collected only once a fortnight, Gareth
Corkhill's wheelie bin was so full the lid wouldn't
shut.

And for that, the father of four finds himself with a criminal record.

Magistrates convicted the 26-year-old bus driver after hearing
evidence that the lid was four inches ajar, which is against rules
to stop bins overflowing.

Scroll down for more...

Four inches too far: Gareth Corkhill with wife Claire and son
Josh

He was ordered to pay £210 - a week's wages - after he declined to pay an on-the-spot fine imposed by the local council's bin police, who visited him wearing stab-proof vests and carrying photographic evidence of his crime.

To add insult to injury he was told to pay a £15 victim
surcharge to help victims of violence - despite there being no
victim - and threatened with prison if he failed to pay.

Rapists, murderers and other violent criminals who have earned a jail sentence rather than a fine are immune from the penalty.

Yesterday the council, Copeland in Cumbria, said that Mr
Corkhill's family had caused problems for "the battle to
reduce waste".

His penalty compares with the typical on-the-spot fine of £80 given to shoplifters - even repeat offenders.

For failing to pay his fine Mr Corkhill, from Whitehaven, will
now have a criminal record which he will have to disclose if he
applies for a job, credit or a mortgage over the next five
years.

Even after that he will have to reveal his crime if he applies for a job in the NHS, working with children, in a bank, or as a security guard.

"I can't believe I now have a criminal record for
simply putting rubbish in my bin," he said. "My only
crime was to leave the lid slightly open. Now I might go for a job
interview and be better than someone else but the employer will see
that officially, I am a criminal.

"They won't know the details of what I did. They won't know that I only put a little too much rubbish in the bin."

Scroll down for more...

Mr Corkhill's troubles began last summer when the two
enforcement officers arrived at his home. They cautioned him before
issuing a £110 on-the-spot fine for failure to close the lid
of his wheelie bin.

He was told he had six months to pay or he would be taken to court. By January he had still not paid and was sent a summons under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, which gave powers to town hall officials to hand out fines to rubbish rulebreakers.

Last week Whitehaven magistrates convicted him in his absence of
"over-filling the receptacle used to dispose of waste" -
a criminal offence.

They added £100 towards prosecution costs on top of the
original fine, together with the £15 surcharge designed to
help victims of violence.

Mr Corkhill, who takes home £900 a month, added: "I
would have been better off throwing my rubbish across the front
garden - at least then I would only have received an £80 fine
for fly-tipping.

"It's outrageous what they've done to me. We got a
leaflet, like everyone else, nine months previously, explaining the
new council policy which also made it a fineable offence for
putting your bin out any earlier than 7am - a curfew for a bin.

"My wife and I put it in the recycling box and continued as
normal. Then this happens. What can I do? If I didn't pay they
said that I could go to prison. They also threatened to clamp my
car and send the bailiffs round.

"We recycle everything we can, including plastics,
cardboard, tins, glass and paper. We have got a black box that is
always full."

A spokesman for Copeland Council said Mr Corkhill's
recollection of the distance his bin lid was open was wrong and it
was "more like seven inches". He added: "We will
continue to crack down on the problem of overflowing
bins."

The case comes against a background of growing numbers of
on-the-spot fines handed out by bin police to those who break
rubbish rules.

In the 12 months up to April last year, nearly 44,000 were fined
because they failed to close bin lids, put their rubbish out on the
wrong day, or left extra black bags alongside their bins.

UK Lockdown point of view
This was pre-planned years in advance by the elite who decided that it was necessary to introduce totalitarianism gradually into our society so that it would go unnoticed by the majority of the population it was being imposed upon, our society is subtly being transformed into a centrally controlled (communist / fascist) state and this story is just another example of how they are conditioning the mass public mind to accept gradual enslavement by the state.

Council snoopers to get new powers to seize phone and email records

Daily Mail 13th August 2008

Council snoopers will be given even greater powers to pry into our phone, email and internet records - landing the taxpayer with a bill of almost £50million.

Town halls, along with the police, security services, health authorities and other public bodies, will have access to ' communication' records of anyone suspected of involvement in even the most minor crime.
The powers, which stem from an EU directive supposedly designed to catch terrorists, will even allow police to track down those who have told friends they are planning to harm themselves.
But it will cost the taxpayer £46.58million over eight years to compensate mobile phone companies and internet firms for storing and providing the data.
Critics said the measure took Britain a step closer to becoming a surveillance state.
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'Yet again the Government have proved themselves unable to resist the temptation to take a power quite properly designed to combat terrorism to snoop on the lives of ordinary people in everyday circumstances.
'It is typical of this Government that they also intend to make the taxpayer pay extra for the privilege.'

The controversy centres on an EU directive passed in the aftermath of the July 7 terror attacks, in London, in 2005.
Britain said it was crucial for terrorism investigations that police and security services could access times, dates and recipients of a suspect's landline, mobile phone, email and internet communications.
A deadline was set for implementing the powers by March 2009. And yesterday the Home Office published proposals for how this will be done.

It is intending to give public bodies covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 - including local councils - the power to access communications data.
The rules will not be limited to detecting terrorism and serious crime - they will be applied to any offence.
Town halls can already request some of the data, and have used it to try to trace minor offenders.
But these rules will make it compulsory for phone and internet companies to hand over personal information from the previous 12 months.
At the moment, arrangements are largely voluntary. Public bodies will not be able to read emails nor listen to phone calls.
Examples given by the Government include someone who tells a friend by email, or via the internet, they are intending to harm themselves.
If contacted by the friend, the police would use their powers to locate a home address and visit the property.
Phil Booth, of the NO2ID campaign, said: 'No one would ever say that surveillance is not required for the most serious crimes and terrorism.
'But to extend such powers and make it so simple for any official to peek into your private affairs shows we are now entering into a database state.'
However, a Home Office spokesman defended the move. 'This data is a vital tool to investigations and intelligence gathering in support of national security and crime.'
It will 'enable UK law enforcement to benefit fully from historical communications data' and 'enhance our national security', he added.

UK Lockdown point of view
All they need to do now is introduce curfews and checkpoints on every street corner and it'll be just like the old Soviet union, know that the EU-SSR are using terror, crime and fake environmentalism to transform all of Europe into a centrally controlled police state they've had this pre-planned since the treaty of Rome in 1957(enacted 1958), the deception in this article is to make it appear as if this is a UK law based on an EU anti-terror directive the truth is that the Sovietisation of our county was planned decades ago by the EU Globalists who have placed agents (Traitors) in local, regional and national government to make it appear as if this tyrannical policy has any domestic support, this has nothing to do with terror or crime and everything to do with our enslavement under the New World Order master plan.

Call to adopt UK Bill of Rights

BBC News Sunday, 10 August 2008 03:38

The government should adopt a Bill of Rights for the UK, a cross-party committee of MPs and peers has urged.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights said the bill should go further than current human rights legislation.
The bill should give greater protection to groups such as children, the elderly and those with learning difficulties, it said in a report.
Labour and the Conservatives agree on the need for a new Bill of Rights, but differ on what areas it should cover.
The committee said the bill should include rights to housing, education and a healthy environment.
Its report referred to a survey conducted in 2006 when more than three-quarters of the people polled agreed that "Britain needs a Bill of Rights to protect the liberty of the individual".

'Vulnerable people'
The report said the new Bill should include all the rights spelt out in the Human Rights Act and then enshrine others in law.
The report said: "We recommend for inclusion, amongst others, the right to trial by jury, the right to administrative justice and international human rights as yet not incorporated into UK law.
"We believe that there is a strong case for... detailed rights for children, and we recommend that the public should be consulted about including specific rights for other vulnerable groups."
The Bill would also encompass Britons' social and economic rights, including the right to health, housing, education and an adequate standard of living, the report said.
The committee said these elements would help to distinguish the Bill of Rights from current human rights legislation.
"Rights such as the right to adequate healthcare, to education and to protection against the worst extremes of poverty touch the substance of people's everyday lives.
"And it would help to correct the popular misconception that human rights are a charter for criminals and terrorists," it went on.
The government said last year it would look into the possibility of a new Bill of Rights.
The Conservatives have said they would bring in such a bill to replace the Human Rights Act.
Andrew Dismore, chairman of the committee which published the report, said: "We want to see a Bill of Rights that would set the bar for the universal standards to which everyone is entitled, and fills the gaps in the protection of more vulnerable people such as the elderly, children or people with learning disabilities."
Calling it a "constitutional landmark", he added: "It would provide a framework both for protecting the liberty of the individual against the intrusion of state power, and for protecting the 'little person' against powerful interests."

UK Lockdown point of view
Human rights have been successfully used by the EU in our country to undermine our criminal justice laws and also our national soverignty, this however was only ever meant to be a means to an end, the real agenda has always been to allow crime and law & order to degenerate out of control and then to rally the TV-zombie population in our country to be misled by the Zionist controlled media into rejecting our international rights so the EU will basically be able to remove all of our rights to allow britian to be transformed into a military police state as is outlined in the EU Constitution/Lisbon treaty, do not be decieved we must not give up our rights or we will never get them back, the UK Bill of Rights is a trick by the EU controlled political parties (Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems) they are not to be trusted.

Terror detention plans 'muddled'

BBC News Monday, 4 August 2008 00:47 UK











Plans to extend terror detention to 42 days could undermine the independence of judges and lead to the collapse of trials, peers have warned.
The Lords constitution committee said letting Parliament vote on whether to allow extensions in the pre-charge time limit beyond 28 days was "muddled".
This would create a "recipe for confusion", rather than a "system of checks and balances", it added.
The Home Office said the changes would protect people and civil liberties.
The House of Commons backed plans to increase pre-charge detentions for terror suspects to 42 days in June.
The proposal - opposed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - passed by just nine votes, after Democratic Unionist Party MPs backed the government.

'Reserve power'
This part of the Counter-Terrorism Bill is expected to face more opposition in the Lords when Parliament returns from the summer recess.
Under the legislation, MPs and peers would vote on whether to grant a temporary "reserve power" for the home secretary, allowing courts to authorise detention for up to 42 days if there was an operational need.
Although the reserve power order would not be specifically about an individual case, politicians would "have to tread a tightrope" to avoid prejudicing any trial, the committee said.
The report said: "We are unconvinced that the government have properly thought through this aspect of their proposed scheme."
The committee also said it was concerned that a judge could have to decide whether to extend a suspect's detention within hours of a "highly politically charged debate" in Parliament.
The report said: "There is a risk that this will be perceived to undermine the independence of the judiciary."
The government's desire to increase democratic accountability was "understandable", but risked "conflating the roles of Parliament and the judiciary, which would be quite inappropriate".

'Untenable'
The peers added: "Far from being a system of checks and balances, this is a recipe for confusion that places on Parliament tasks that it cannot effectively fulfil and arguably risks undermining the rights of fair trial for the individuals concerned."
The committee said plans for the home secretary to give secret privy counsellor briefings about the need for reserve power orders to the chairmen of three key parliamentary committees were "untenable" and should be scrapped.
The peers also said the "elaborate" decision-making process would give a far greater opportunity for legal challenges to arise.
They expressed concerns about the home secretary being given power to direct that sensitive inquests should be heard without a jury.
The committee's Conservative chairman Lord Goodlad said politicians would be asked to act in a "quasi-judicial manner" in deciding whether to extend the limit beyond 28 days.
"Considering that any debate will be highly political in nature and any vote may well be whipped by the political parties, we are deeply concerned that the independence of the judiciary may appear to be undermined and that trials may be prejudiced," he said.

'Exceptional power'
Home Office Minister Tony McNulty argued that the proposals "strike the correct balance between the right of everyone in the UK to be protected from terrorism and the need to preserve individual civil liberties".
He said: "We will consider carefully the committee's comments on the role of Parliament in relation to pre-charge detention.
"We believe, however, that it is right that Parliament should have the opportunity to fully debate and approve the bringing into force of such an exceptional power."
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: "The government should abandon this measure and concentrate on delivering things that will actually make us safer - such as allowing the use of intercept evidence in terror trials and establishing a dedicated UK Border Police Force."
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman David Howarth said: "The 42-day proposal has everything to do with politics and nothing at all to do with the struggle against terrorism. It should be dropped immediately."

UK Lockdown point of view

It is clear now that all UK anti-terror legislation is little more than a smokescreen to allow a merger of the branches of government creating a more centralised soviet style system, as the judges become tools for corrupt politicians the checks and balances safeguarding our rights to fair trials are gone along with hundreds of years of our constitutional values going back as far as the Magna Carter (1215), New Labour are traitors working as agents for the EU don't be decieved by any of their smokescreen diversion tactics, it is they who hate our freedoms and it is they who are enslaving us all.