-Caveat Lector-
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
In Association with the Libertarian International
London, Saturday, 13th April 2002
For Immediate Use
Contact Details: Dr Chris R. Tame, 07957 644519,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
For other contact and link details, see the foot of this message
"GOVT'S DATA SHARING PLAN IS A DAGGER TO THE HEART OF LIBERTY", SAYS
FREE MARKET AND CIVIL LIBERTIES THINK TANK
The Labour's government's plans to integrate the personal data held
on British citizens by various government departments and agencies
is a dagger to the heart of liberty, says the Libertarian Alliance,
the radical free market and civil liberties think tank and pressure
group.
Libertarian Alliance Director, Dr Chris R. Tame, says:
"In the light of the ever-more blatant attack on civil liberties in
this country - including the proliferation of camera surveillance
systems, the increasing involvement of intelligence agencies in
political surveillance and dirty tricks operations, the push for a
national ID card and DNA database, the gradual abolition of common
law liberties by the removal of jury trials, of the presumption of
innocence, of the right of silence and of double jeopardy, and by
the adoption of the EU's despotic corpus juris - this proposal is
even more ominous. The government's claim that data would be
processed only 'where necessary' is laughable - especially when one
sees that their list of 'necessary' reasons covers every conceivable
excuse for nanny statism, paternalism, censorship, socialism,
prudery, puritanism and prohibitionism.
It is ironic that when the state has demonstrated that it is
incapable of providing any 'public service' adequately, when it
cannot defend its citizens from predators of every stripe, that is
should be attempting to turn us into supplicants and serfs. The
common argument that 'if you have nothing to hide you have nothing
to fear' is absurd. In an age when health fascists have declared
smoking to be a form of child abuse it is clear that everyone can be
subjected to the prejudices of demented paternalists - whether of
the fundamentalist religious nutters, the peddlers of PC pieties,
the environmentalists, or the feminist anti-sex cranks. Your life
style, your tastes, your sexuality, your political and social views,
can be subjected to tomorrow's moral panic, propaganda scare
campaign and witch-hunt and legislated as 'crimes' or as
'politically incorrect'.
The citizens of Britain need to send a message to our would-be
masters that we are not numbers, that we will not be pushed, filed,
indexed, stamped, briefed, debriefed, or numbered - that our lives
are our own.
It is now clear that the 'social contract' has been broken by the
state. Resistance to the usurpations of the state is both a right
and a moral duty. It is the right, the duty, of all to resist and
disrupt the state's data gathering and record-keeping ability, by
whatever means are necessary".
ENDS
Note to Editors
(1) Dr Chris R. Tame is the founder and Director of the Libertarian
Alliance. A prolific writer and lecturer on many topics in
sociology, economics, philosophy and the history of ideas. He is
also the author of "Freedom, Responsibility and Justice: The
Criminology of the New Right" in the book "The Politics of Crime
Control" (Kevin Stenson & David Cowell, eds., Sage Publications,
London, 1991), which can also be found reprinted at
http://www.libertarian.co.uk
(2) Dr Tame can be contacted for further comment at 07957 644519 or
by email at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Extended Contact Details:
The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and
civil liberties policy institute. It has published over 700
articles, pamphlets and books in support of freedom and against
statism in all its forms. These are freely available at
http:www.libertarian.co.uk
Our postal address is
The Libertarian Alliance
25 Chapter Chambers
Esterbrooke Street
London SW1W 4NN
Tel: 020 7 821 5502
Fax: 020 7 834 2031
Associated Organisations
The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a
sister organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to
coordinate various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty
throughout the world.
Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains
about 800,000 words of writings on themes interesting to
libertarians and conservatives
Candidlist - http://www.candidlist.com - owned and maintained by LA
Executive member Sean Gabb, it lists Conservative MPs and candidates
according to their views on European integration. It had a major
effect before the 2001 general election, and remains an important
resource.
Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive
member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in
French and English on libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism and the
free market. It is a prime source of documentation on these issues
for students and scholars.
Libertarian Samizdata - http://www.samizdata.blogspot.com - works in
association with the Libertarian Alliance and has an ever larger
following. Check it out.
--
Dr. Chris R. Tame, Director
Libertarian Alliance | "The secret of Happiness is Freedom, |
25 Chapter Chambers | and the secret of Freedom is Courage" |
Esterbrooke Street | Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration |
London SW1P 4NN
England
Tel: 020 7821 5502
Fax: 020 7834 2031
Personal Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
LA Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
LA Web Site: http://www.libertarian.co.uk
Free Life Web Site: http://www.btinternet.com/~old.whig/freelife/fl.htm
The Hampden Press Website: http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk
LA Forum: groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum
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