A senior barrister, given special security clearance to act for suspected terrorists, is to resign in protest at the government's anti-terror laws. Ian MacDonald QC said he was stepping down after seven years "for reasons of conscience" because the "odious" laws were a "blot on the legal landscape". I agree with the man. The situation is far from perfect. Once flagged as suspect characters they should have been booted out of the country without further ado. In fact, I'm going to write to my MP to ask why taxpayers' money is being spent on feeding and housing men we don't want here, have no good reason to keep, and regard as potential threats to life and limb.
It comes after the House of Lords ruled the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects was unlawful. But the Law Lords have no power to strike out the anti-terrorism act. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has attacked the decision by Britain's highest court. He said the right to life was the "most important liberty" and the government had a duty to protect people from terrorism.
I don't feel that a Government too cowed by EU commitments to protecting scum from the consequences of their murderous activities abroad and PC notions of an obligation to protect suspected-would-be and murderers and convicted terrorists from their countrymen places my liberty at the top of its agenda. That's one reason why I'd be loathed to vote for it. It's just a shame that no other major party thinks my way either
The Law lords were "simply wrong" to imply the men were being held arbitrarily, he said. Mr MacDonald is one of the Special Advocates given security clearance to represent detainees before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) - a secure court without jury, which tries terror suspects. Writing in the Mail on Sunday he said the law was fundamentally flawed and "contrary to our deepest notions of justice". "My role has been altered to provide a false legitimacy to indefinite detention without knowledge of the accusations being made and without any kind of criminal charge or trial," he said.
They are 'detained' only in the sense that they refuse anything less than to wander freely in my country. They are free to return to their own country or to any other country that would take them. They are, therefore, nothing more than parasites here. They weren't invited and arrived unannounced. They are the 'asylum seeker' world's equivalent of inmates on the run from a psychiatric prison. They may tell you they are guilty of no crime, but you'd have to be nuts yourself to let them into your home.