It is no surprise that ever since Tony Blair uttered his soundbite ‘Tough on Crime; Tough on the Causes of Crime’ the Tories and Labour have competed bitterly to be the ‘toughest’. They are, after all, competing to win the support of the same narrow-minded. Self-interested section of the middle class in this election. But that is not all. Whichever party runs the State after this election will be keenly interested in ‘tooling up’; equipping itself with all the powers necessary to whip the working class and its supporters into line.
The Tory government, with the wholesale support of Labour, has introduced an unprecedented tranche of criminal justice legislation over the last few years: just for example, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which removed the tight to silence (only Neil Hamilton now has this right) and criminalised peaceful assembly; increased police powers to stop and search; widened powers for MI5 to breach individuals’ privacy. Much of this breaches human rights, but they don’t care.
In the inevitable rush to pass laws before the election, three Bills are of significance: the Police Bill (authorising bugging, entry and search without judicial warrant; employers can demand criminal records of job applicants); Crime Sentences Bill (introducing mandatory life sentences for a wide range of repeat offences); and the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Bill (allowing the sharing of information on individuals between a wide range of government departments and quangos). You will not be surprised to know that these bills will reach to the Statute Book, slightly amended, solely because of Labour Party support.
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 136 ELECTION SPECIAL APRIL/MAY 1997
