“In light of such defiance of the U.K.’s moral authority on human rights”

What moral authority? We support[ed] torture and rendition. We went to war illegally by the judgement of all bar senior lawyer the Govt consulted. We sold weapons to most of the despots now repressing their people and provided assistance to the others. We are still in Afghanistan with our allies secret prisons (and lack of any discernible goal).

Agreed what a dolt our PM is. His proposal, if it may be accorded that status, is impractical and stupid but then he got the same inflated degree as the Eds so what can one expect? Harsh sounding rhetoric, examples made, groups labelled, positions polarised and random populist policy I guess.

If this is all about “As both the BBC and commercial television outlets have stated, the proposal that media companies hand over raw footage creates a further and immediate risk to journalists’ safety”, then I fail to see what the problem is.

Demanding it to be handing over is perhaps too far (and I don’t know if that’s what they’re doing), but I don’t see what’s wrong with journalists supplying evidence to police voluntarily. If the BBC, for example, have footage that could lead to a prosecution then surely the ‘morally right’ thing to do is to give it to police. That doesn’t breach anyone’s human rights (in fact it protects them).

Comparing it to Chinese and Iranian censorship is pathetic.

Just noticed the Chinese and Iran stuff was in relation to Social Media, not the news footage bit – which I agree is a stupid suggestion by Cameron.

@2

If people were just to be ‘allowed’ to hand over raw footage if they wanted to, it would hardly have been an announcement, would it. That has always been, and will always be, the case.

Forcing journalists to hand over footage is the worst option, but pressing them to do it would be almost as bad.

Remember all those people who voted ConDem in order to bring us a new golden age of civil liberties free from the ‘oppressive’ new labour government? Bet they’re right happy with the current results…

‘Remember all those people who voted ConDem in order to bring us a new golden age of civil liberties free from the ‘oppressive’ new labour government? Bet they’re right happy with the current results…’

I don’t think anyone with an interest in civil liberties is happy with these suggestions, but do you really think the *last government* represented a ‘Golden Age’?!?

“U.K.’s moral authority on human rights”

They haven’t been paying attention. We’ve got a ruling party that uses ‘human rights’ as a term of abuse. The UK has no “moral authority on human rights” whatsoever.

@6 It was certainly better than this lot. As ‘scary’ as DNA databases and tracking chips on dustbins were, they pale in comparison to being jailed for 4 years for buggering about on facebook.

@4

Even if it’s a case of forcing/pressuring them to do it, I fail to see that as a problem. If a journalist has something that could potentially solve a crime of any sort they should hand it to the police. The rioters were perfectly happy to be recorded and broadcast (and anything broadcast, the police could potentially use.) – it just means that stuff that ends up not being edited into broadcast can be used efficiently.

‘@6 It was certainly better than this lot. As ‘scary’ as DNA databases and tracking chips on dustbins were, they pale in comparison to being jailed for 4 years for buggering about on facebook.’

Pensioners being dragged out of conferences for shouting ‘nonsense’, complicity with extraordinary rendition, shoot-to-kill on the subway, anti-terror legislation used against people who put the wrong bin out, ASBO’s, ID cards, the national database, proposals tp log every phonecall or email sent in the UK, oh, happy days!

@10 Well I’m glad to see none of that isn’t happening now, in one form or another. Oh wait.

@11

Thanks for that Cylux, it made me chuckle. Keep up the retorts!

“Pensioners being dragged out of conferences for shouting ‘nonsense’”

Pensioners? Conferences? Plural? You wouldn’t be embroidering the facts, would you? Two stewards got it wrong with one pensioner at one conference, and he received an apology from Blair the next day and ended up on the National Executive Committee.

Next you’ll be telling us that the Tories allow people to shout abuse at Cameron & Co at their conferences.

http://cuttingedgeuk.proboards.com/index.cgi

“@6 It was certainly better than this lot. As ‘scary’ as DNA databases and tracking chips on dustbins were, they pale in comparison to being jailed for 4 years for buggering about on facebook.”

Of course that was a sentence handed down by a judge, under the existing laws against incitement. Anyone would think Cameron himself had said “Mucking about on Facebook? Intolerable. Off with their heads!”

Cylux @5:

Remember all those people who voted ConDem

I don’t know anyone who voted ConDem. Really, most LDs think the Tories are evil and most Tories think the LDs all work for the Open University.

I know a buncha people who voted Conservative. They’re not happy because the bloody Liberals keep making a fuss about perfectly reasonable, exploitative policies.

I know people who voted LibDem; mostly, they’re not happy because the LibDem’s don’t seem to be doing much of anything, and are certainly not carrying much weight when it comes to reining in the Tories. Their own incompetence is slowing them down more than Clegg & company.

Personally, I tried to vote Liberal and turned out to have voted Democrat. And no, I’m not bloody happy either. Particularly when a considerable number of nations worldwide are already using varitations of representative democracy which would have fixed the problem, but which the British still fear for some reason.

Ah well. We’ll grow up eventually.