Britannia Radio

TELGRAPH            17.2.09
Spy chief: We risk a police state
Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the 
fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil 
liberties and risks creating a police state.
 
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with people's privacy 
and playing straight into the hands of terrorists.
"Since I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain 
decisions of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws 
which interfere with people's privacy," Dame Stella said in an 
interview with a Spanish newspaper.
"It would be better that the Government recognised that there are 
risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass 
laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of 
terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.

Dame Stella, 73, added: "The US has gone too far with Guantánamo and 
the tortures. MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the 
opposite effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a 
greater justification." She said the British secret services were "no 
angels" but insisted they did not kill people.

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 
and was head of the security agency until 1996. Since stepping down 
she has been a fierce critic of some of the Government's counter-
terrorism and security measures, especially those affecting civil 
liberties.

In 2005, she said the Government's plans for ID cards were 
"absolutely useless" and would not make the public any safer. Last 
year she criticised attempts to extend the period of detention 
without charge for terrorism suspects to 42 days as excessive, 
shortly before the plan was rejected by Parliament.

Her latest remarks were made as the Home Office prepares to publish 
plans for a significant expansion of state surveillance, with powers 
for the police and security services to monitor every email, as well 
as telephone and internet activity.

Despite considerable opposition to the plan, the document will say 
that the fast changing pace of communication technology means the 
security services will not be able to properly protect the public 
without the new powers.

Local councils have been criticised for using anti-terrorism laws to 
snoop on residents suspected of littering and dog fouling offences.

David Davis, the Tory MP and former shadow home secretary, said: 
"Like so many of those who have had involvement in the battle against 
terrorism, Stella Rimington cares deeply about our historic rights 
and rightly raises the alarm about a Government whose first interest 
appears to be to use the threat of terrorism to frighten people and 
undermine those rights rather than defend them."

In a further blow to ministers, an international study by lawyers and 
judges accused countries such as Britain and America of "actively 
undermining" the law through the measures they have introduced to 
counter terrorism.
The report, by the International Commission of Jurists, said: "The 
failure of states to comply with their legal duties is creating a 
dangerous situation wherein terrorism, and the fear of terrorism, are 
undermining basic principles of international human rights law."

The report claimed many measures introduced were illegal and counter-
productive and that legal systems put in place after the Second World 
War were well equipped to handle current threats. Arthur Chaskelson, 
the chairman of the report panel, said: "In the course of this 
inquiry, we have been shocked by the damage done over the past seven 
years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide 
range of countries around the world.
"Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed 
themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have 
undermined cherished values and violated human rights.''

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government has been clear that 
where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they 
should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate. The key 
is to strike the right balance between privacy, protection and 
sharing of personal data.
"This provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to protect the 
public as well as ensuring government has the ability to provide 
effective public services while ensuring there are effective 
safeguards and a solid legal framework that protects civil liberties."

In her interview, in La Vanguardia newspaper, Dame Stella also 
described the shock of her two daughters when they discovered she was 
a spy and told how she used most "gadgets" when she was in office 
except for "a gun''.