Discredited control orders scheme should be scrapped - Huhne

"This scheme should be scrapped before any more taxpayers’ money is wasted on court cases," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary. Commenting on the decision by Alan Johnson to release a man who had been held under a control order for three years, Chris Huhne said:

“This is yet another blow to the Government’s discredited and illiberal control orders scheme.

“It flies in the face of British justice to place people under de facto house arrest without even telling them why.

“This scheme should be scrapped before any more taxpayers’ money is wasted on court cases where the Home Office trying to defend the indefensible.”

Government launches counter terrorism science and technology strategy

Experts from industry and academia are being invited to provide groundbreaking innovations to help combat the threat of terrorism as part of the government’s Science and Technology Counter Terrorism Strategy launched today.

Scientists are being asked to come forward with state-of-the-art ideas that could be used to identify new threats and develop ways to counter the challenges we face from international terrorism.

The three-year Science and Technology Counter Terrorism Strategy published today aims to:

* Understand future threats and opportunities;

* Develop effective solutions; and

* Work with our international partners on counter terrorism-related science and technology

Alongside the strategy, a brochure has been produced for science and technology experts, to put them in touch with key contacts.

Science and technology play a key part in counter-terrorism, enhancing our ability to pursue terrorists, prevent radicalisation, protect essential services and infrastructure and prepare for a terrorist attack.

The government’s counter terrorism strategy (CONTEST) has identified that terrorists will continue to exploit modern technology, not only to plan and conduct attacks, but also to disseminate propaganda and recruit people to their cause. The report published today sets out what the government is already doing to counter terrorism through science and technology.

The strategy and accompanying brochure set out key challenges and invite commercial experts to get in touch to see if they can work towards meeting the operational needs of the wider counter-terrorism community as well as our traditional partners such as the police, military and security services.

Security Minister Lord West said:

“The UK currently faces a real and serious threat from terrorism and we need to utilise our position as a world leader in science and technology to counter this.

“We need to match products and ideas to problems, which is why we are actively inviting people to join us and share expertise.

“The UK is a leading innovator in the design and provision of defence and security solutions. British technology can have greater practical applications across the world and is just one more tool in our fight against those who would wish to do us harm.”

Peace for Israel and Palestine must be on fair and equal terms, says Green leader

Commenting on the Israeli prime minister's announcement that he would be prepared to recognise a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP said today:

"Anything that brings Israelis and Palestinians closer to a permanent peaceful settlement must be applauded.

"However, I can understand why Palestinians would be very unhappy with Mr Netanyahu's preconditions. For a new state to have no control of its borders or its airspace would simply not be fair. To recognise a state on condition that it has no armed forces and is not allowed to make defensive military alliances is not really recognising its sovereignty."

Dr Lucas added: "The Green Party obviously recognises Israel's need for security. We unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism against Israelis. We vehemently oppose anti-semitism."

"And by exactly the same reasoning, we cannot support the idea that a government with a track record of illegal aggression and illegal occupation should be allowed to impose conditions like these on its neighbour."

She added: "We note that Benjamin Netanyahu continues to support the building of homes and infrastructure in territories that do not belong to Israel. We must therefore question his sincerity."

"A peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians must be built on the basis of mutual respect and equality between nations. You can't have a normal, respectful relationship between two states where one of them insists on the right to be able to dominate the other, and to recognise its existence only with unreasonable conditions attached."

UK and Pakistan to work together against terrorism

The Prime Minister and the President of Pakistan have committed to work together to address the threat of terrorism.

Gordon Brown spoke with President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday about the need for a joint counter-terrorism effort following the arrests of twelve suspected terrorists in locations across North West England on Wednesday evening. Eleven of those arrested were Pakistani nationals.

Downing Street said that during a phone call on Thursday evening, both leaders agreed that they share a serious threat from terrorism and violent extremism and should work together to tackle it.

Speaking to the media during a visit to Carlisle on Thursday, the Prime Minister said:

“I think one important part of this that has got to be recognised is that increasingly we have seen terrorist links with Pakistan and Britain. I’ll be talking to the Pakistan President, Mr Zardari. We want the closest of cooperation between Britain and Pakistan to deal with countering terrorism and I think one of the lessons we are learning from the events of the past few years is that Pakistan has got to do more to root out the terrorist elements in its country as well.”

Mr Brown praised the police forces involved in Wednesday’s arrests for their part in foiling what he described as a “major terrorist plot”.

He added:

“We had to act preemptively to ensure the safety of the public. The safety of the public is the paramount concern in everything that we do.”

Lord Ahmed is in Danger of Inciting More than Hate

I was just watching the news about the Home Office's bizarre refusal to allow dutch politician Geert Wilders entry to the country when a strange but disturbing debate developed between Lord Pearson & Lord Ahmed on Sky News hosted by TV's third nipple Kay Burley. Wilders recently made a film called Fitna which shows images of terrorist attacks associated with Muslim terrorists like 9/11 and the Spannish train bombings in context to parts of the Koran which apparently justify them. He was invited to screen the film in the UK by Lord Pearson but was refused entry at Heathrow because the Home office backed up by the Foreign Office felt that this would incite racial hatred or violence.

Pearson and Ahmed were pitted against each other and what developed was quite wrong. Ahmed attacked Pearson from the start and bullied his way through the whole of the debate. Pearson sounded like the voice of reason and in actual fact I fail to see anything wrong in what he was saying. He was basically saying that there is an imbalance in society where the the majority in the UK and people with public responsibility are scared to say boo! to anyone from the Muslim faith. Not only that but this has in fact been in well publicised instances to the detriment of the Christian majority who have been discriminated against in favour of a loud-mouthed aggressive minority like Lord Ahmed.

Now I have Muslim blood in me and I can say without reservation that that part of me in no way accepts Lord Ahmed or his type as my mouth piece. Further more, I think that it is exactly people like Ahmed who perpetuate violence and hatred against the Muslim Community. What Pearson says is correct. The passive Muslim majority should have a debate about how they allow Islam to by represented or there is a great danger that people will assume that Lord Ahmed is in fact representative of the Muslim population in the UK and in turn assume that all Muslims are aggressive bullies or worse, terrorists.

It should be remembered that it was during severe economic depression that the Nazi party convinced the German people that it was Jewish bankers and politicians who were to blame for their hardships. It was not long after this that over 6 million Jews were murdered across Europe, the overwhelming majority of whom were neither bankers nor politicians. The world has reminded the German people of their part in the Holocaust since the end of the second world war 'til now and will probably continue to do so for years. The German people however have accepted their wrongs and done everything in their power to repair the damage as much as it ever could be. What people like Ahmed suggest is that it is somehow an insult to them that we choose to associate terrorism with Islam. They seem to suggest that somehow they are the victims in the situation and that somehow we need to apologise to them for the absolutely logical association that has been made of Islam with violence. Instead of accepting responsibility for a sick minority within their religion and working to remove that sickness, they are trying to capitalise on the fact that people have a genuine and justifiable suspicion of them and are attacking that insecurity with great vigour and total ruthlessness.

Now that really makes me mad. What makes me laugh though is that not one person who has vehimentally criticised Wilders' film on the news today, including the arse Milliband, has actually been able to say that they have seen it. Not one!!! How I wonder than have they all come to the conclusions that they have about it and stand to defend them so forcefully? It's just not credible, is it?