UK's planned Espionage Act will crack down on Snowden-style Brit whistleblowers, suspected backdoored gear (cough, Huawei) UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has announced an Espionage Bill, charging ahead with new laws intended to criminalise any British copycats of Edward Snowden – and allowing a future crackdown on Huawei. The bill, said Javid, "will bring together new and modernised powers, giving our security services the legal authority they need …
"new treason laws, which he said would be aimed at people who "betray" Britain" by acting against the political interests of the current government.
"throwing out any jurors who might return the wrong verdict by sympathising with the accused." - see above. And of course the Clive Ponting case where the judge told the jury that the "public interest" means the personal political interest of the current bunch of crooks running the government.
Yes, there's something distinctly scary about the idea that the current shower could get to redefine Treason.
Half of them are incompetent so will probably bungle it and make the definition overly broad, whilst the other half appear to be more towards the fascist end of the scale, so will also make it overly broad.
And then they get the power to kick out "overly-sympathetic" jurors...
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More details in this The Guardian "Notes and Queries" item here:
Votes can be traced by matching the numbered ballot paper to its similarly numbered counterfoil; the numbered counterfoil also bears the voter's registration number from the electoral register which is hand-written by the Polling Clerk when the ballot paper is issued. As all the ballot papers for each candidate - including fringe candidates such as Sinn Fein, communists, fascists, nationalists, etc. - are bundled together, anyone having access to those documents can speedily trace the name and address of every voter for such candidates if they wish.
The issue is not whether or not the stories are false, but the system of numbering ballot papers in parliamentary elections allows people to give credence to such stories whether they are true or not. It is important that elections are seen to be anonymous, and anything that disrupts that appearance is unfortunate.
Jurors can be sympathetic, empathetic, and disinterested. If you are the accused then sympathetic is a great juror. Empathetic is a mixed bag since the juror may reflect on what you could have done to prevent yourself from getting in the spot you are in now so I am guessing nobody wants them around. The disinterested will side with whomever gets them home quickest. The move to strike those that are sympathetic is understandable from the position of prosecution but hardly practical given they will never get it right and also disenfranchises those that plan on being impartial regardless of how they appear.
If there was a way to only include those that would deal with the facts then I would be on-board for that. But life is not fair so why should a trial be?
What's in a word?
'Disinterested' means 'not having a personal interest'. Thus, probably the ideal juror. He has 'no dog in that fight' and will be objective.
'Uninterested' means 'totally unengaged, bored, wanting to go home. Possibly the very worst sort of juror.
If this quote in the article is verbatim
'..He also called for new treason laws, which he said would be aimed at people who "betray" Britain, whether at home or abroad.'
Then rejoice!, we've nothing to worry about at there's no such legal beastie called Britain to betray.
If, however, he actually meant the UK, but didn't want to tip his hand, then the Scottish and Welsh nationalists better start watching their backs again, or, should that be start seriously watching their backs again as I think it's no great secret that they've always been 'spook ridden'.
"If, however, he actually meant the UK, "
Or, post Lisbon Treaty, the EU. Which is why I voted Leave - not because I am racist, not because I have a problem with "foreigners" in what is currently the UK, but because next year will see the realisation of a dream started by a certain Austrian back in 1939.
Even if you believe the current European leaders really have their citizens' best interests at heart (in which case I refer you to the Yellowjackets in Paris), we are all familiar with the way what the customer requests and what Marketing promises doesn't always bear much resemblance to what lands on your doorstep - and if the treatment handed out to the Gillets Jaune aren't enough of a warning sign, look at the rising number of extremist groups crawling out of their cess pits in central Europe...
(*) Voter Beware - and yes, I know it's not real Latin, thank you.
Mistreatment of citizens by individual nation states is exactly why we need a greater European body to hold them in check.
If you are unhappy with Europe being led by unelected bureaucrats, blame your applicable national government, who wanted a federal europe but also were unwilling to hand it over to their people in the form of the European Parliament.
The oozing sores of extremism are not symptoms of a rotten European Union but of the decomposition of the individual nation states within and out.
I always regarded Marketings job as to try to convince people in the general area to buy something they don't need, When a customer actually comes asking, it's Sales that actually tries to meet their need with what's in stock.
Problem is the voters don't know what they want, nor what's good merchandise and what's septic poison and will often buy something garish and on the cusp of going rotten or the same as last time unable to tell dull and tasteless from foul.
"throwing out any jurors who might return the wrong verdict by sympathising with the accused."
No matter how sophisticated, a system of control that removes the rights covertly of an individual ultimately will not scale beyond a certain point.
No matter how many buckets you have, repeatedly drilling holes in the keel will eventually sink the boat.
I'm afraid this Orwellian move is the last panic of a dying policy of defeating an enemy by means of a chess game. You cannot eliminate an ideology by paying the women to breed adherents.
Not long now.
"throwing out any jurors who might return the wrong verdict by sympathising with the accused."
Yeah, we learned our lesson there in Iraq, where we assumed the UN jury headed by Hans Blix would reach the right verdict, and had to throw them out very publicly at the eleventh hour of the trial when it was evident they were heading for the wrong verdict.
"throwing out any jurors who might return the wrong verdict by sympathising with the accused."
Perhaps this implementation of the system will be based on 'observation of best practice' - perhaps he's been watching documentaries on how strong and effective the Klingon and Romulan jury systems are against naughty space travellers?
Democracy in this country is slipping away so quickly yet both ordinary MPs and the people seem totally myopic about it.
Democracy in this country is slipping away so quickly yet both ordinary MPs and the people seem totally myopic about it. ..... Andy The Hat
Clearly advising ordinary MPs and the people about it, Andy The Hat, almost immediately has the people able and enabled to shame and blame MPs with whistleblowing presentations of the evidence of their inactions in the face of such knowledge and purloined intelligence resulting in their failure to address and engage Rapid Rabid Emerging Realisations with Greater Plans than of Late for the Future.
Or do Parliaments Expect A.N.Others to Lead with Democracy and they be just paid to Temporarily Play Guardian Nurse of Stellar Assets which is an Enigmatic Sinecure of a Post Originally Designed to Engage with Intellect and Information to make Novel Practical Use of Freely Available Viable ImaginaNation?
One simply just has to ask Parliamentary type leaderships some of those awkward questions to know what is, or is not, in their heads.
to 'look good' in another countries eyes.... we're hardly worth talking about, let alone bring proud of. America is not the bastion of virtue, there isn't one. What a pathetic cry for help from the home sec; Brexit, disillusion and fear have written a terrible chapter of our history.
"What a pathetic cry for help from the home sec"
Nothing to do with cries for help. He's just had the standard brainwashing that the Home Office gives new Home Secs. This is what the Home Office has wanted for a long time. The restraining influence for the last few decades has been the oversight of European courts. It looks as if we're en route to getting rid of that.
Considering a lot of our elected officials are clearly showing signs of calcium deficiency (first symptom on the list is: Mental confusion, irritability, depression, and anxiety.) then it seems like the milkshake incident could be classed as performing our civil duty in ensuring the health and wellbeing of those who are supposed to steer this nation.
Clearly their inability to manage anything remotely resembling effective governance is a sign of their mental confusion from lack of calcium. Providing high calcium milk based refreshment should be considered the act of a Hero in these trying times. Rapid disbersement of such refreshment can only be lauded as a strong motivation to provide emergency medical assistance.
"After the United States, we are probably the largest contributor to the international system of defence and intelligence that keeps the world safe,"
Fixed it for you.
"After the United States, we are probably the largest contributor to the international system of defence and intelligence that keeps politicians safe,"
Sod the Express, the Daily Heil will love this, since they decide who to denounce as traitors - such as judges who decide according to the law rather than according to the Heil's prejudices.
Wait, aren't there two rules about the Official Secrets Acts? I have the feeling that reading about it here violates both rules. ..... chivo243
Surely, chivo243, if one hasn't signed to acknowledge understanding and wilful compliance with terms of the Act, one cannot be prosecuted for breaking it?
Ergo best to steer clear of it if working with information and intelligence, which always reveals secrets eventually and inevitably, for then can your knowledge be cynically and perversely used against you?
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