Having been granted expanded powers to "stop and search" under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act of 2000, the police have been criticised for abusing these powers by stopping an excessive number of people for reasons which essentially boiled down to - to paraphrase Constable Savage - "Looking Islamic in a Built-Up Area". The damage to relations with ( Read more... )

I don't know a great deal about Christopher Hitchens, but I get the strong impression that the more I know, the less I'll like. But in the public debate about torture, and specifically about waterboarding, there's always been been one element missing. I've long wondered if anyone would be brave enough to supply it, and to his credit Hitchens has ( Read more... )

Lots of people have stated that things are bad when they're more afraid of the police than they are of terrorism. So how would they feel about being more afraid of their local council than they are of terrorism ( Read more... )

Man shot by armed police on tube.An eyewitness reported ( Read more... )

Played a wedding in Yorkshire yesterday, from which I got home at 06:30. Today is Mum's birthday, so I got up again in time to pay a visit to my parents this afternoon. Currently I'm getting very friendly with a litre of orange juice ( Read more... )

BBC News online reports a number of explosions in the capital, several on the Underground and one destroying a double decker bus.

I'm just watching my LJ, hoping everyone I know in the area is OK.