BILL OF RIGHTS GETS IT WRONG

26-06-2006

Tory toff David Cameron reckons what Britain needs now is another set of rules and regulations laying down down what we can and can't do.

Yes I know he's calling it something fancy like a Bill Of Rights.

But make no mistake, this is another list of do's and don'ts prescribed by politicians.

Funny how Britain flourished for hundreds of years as a haven of free speech and tolerance without the need for constitutional straitjacket.

Yet here we are, just eight years after the European Convention on Human Rights, being promised Dodgy Dave's “new, improved formula” - with a unique “bluey whiteness”.

The irony is that right and left, Thatcher and Blair, have each chiselled away at individual freedoms to the point where Britain is one of the most intensively observed nations on earth.

Big Brother isn't just watching you - he's making notes about your every movement.

He can watch you in your car, snoop on your mobile phone conversations, follow you down the street, check your bank account without authorisation, spy on your e-mails at work.

All done, of course, in the name of protecting freedom.

Look out for more intrusion this week when the government announces a national database which will hold information about every child in the country.

Purely in the youngsters' own interests of course. Of course.

If we swallow any of this “bill of rights” nonsense, we concede ground on one vital point.

Politicians don't “give” us anything; everything they have, they owe to us - their authority, their income, their power.

When they use it to good effect - to build hospitals, run schools, improve the environment - no one's complaining.

But when they start wars, poison the planet or simply line their pockets at our expense - now that really is taking liberties.

My reckoning is that what we really need is a bill of wrongs, barring governments of all hues from getting involved in our lives without good reason.

Here are few suggestions to be getting on with, but you can add your own.

The Stirrer's Bill of WRONGS.

1) It is WRONG to lock people up with out giving them a fair trial.

2) It is WRONG to take workers' hard-earned pay in taxes without spending it wisely and carefully

3) It is WRONG to abuse your power by leading people into war based on lies and deception

4) It is WRONG to allow one section of your people to become excessively rich without considering the needs of the poor.

5) It is WRONG to poke your nose into your citizens' affairs without due cause.

There, that should do for a while.

In the meantime, remember the only thing you can trust with a “bill” is a duck, or a waiter - and the waiter only sometimes.