Liberty, Freedom, Futility
Last week a cavalcade of police motorcycles steamed down the A23 into Brighton no doubt escorting senior Labour government personnel in their armoured limousines.
On Saturday the town was awash with police cars and foot patrols. As I walked beside the narrow North Laines a small convoy of what looked like heavy military vehicles painted in police colours edged its way through town. The occupants were dressed in black outfits and one square jawed policeman looked out with what I can only describe as a look of disdain at us minions forced to move out of the way. It felt like occupation and I wanted to shout, “who do you think you are here to serve?” Clearly its not us. If not that coppers’ own ego it is certainly to ensure that his masters are safe, at any cost.
There is a threat. Government decisions over Iraq and its foreign policies make them and us a target. Personally I feel less safe because the Labour party decides to have it’s conference here. It could easily be argued that it would be better if they conducted the whole thing on-line, it would be cheaper, safer and with no loss of liberty. It can’t surely be about open debate as the old boy who was foolhardy enough to shout “Rubbish†will testify. No its just circus and resistance is futile, as the comic books used to say.
While this government gobbles up our rights to peaceful protest and seeks to tag us with technology it hangs onto its god given right to meet where it likes to parade its distorted version of democracy and free speech for the media.
