I did eventually become a peace protestor and I certainly got some special treatment. One time I went to a Trident X Berth public meeting late, and the police had saved me a seat and the RN officers who spoke looked right at me. Even at protests I never attended police officers would ask for me by name. While I'd love to be a Bond super-villian I am just average, innocent, inconsequential.
Like I said I had a great job history, security cleared despite being openly anarchist, but I was only average in C / OS / network / assembler etc.
I met one guy whose mate had given him a job working the gardens at a naval college, who lost that job because he'd signed a CND petition. I've seen very nasty criminals who infiltrated the peace movement who have been rewarded to the tune of at least £100,000. Snitches get ISAs.
I was the first innocent male Briton this century to be chatted up by a female undercover police officer, as far as I can determine. Which is kind of flattering but I'm not a dangerous revolutionary. I am very glad I am an innocent victim of the British state rather than a poisoned victim of the Russian state, but I'd still far rather live in a genuinely participative democracy.
The builders who were blacklisted were either union officials or workers who complained about health and safety violations. This is all admitted now in court, and apparently that particular blacklisting company was closed in 2009. For all I know I am no longer blacklisted from IT because after eight years absence from employment then who would get employed? This has been going on in the UK for more than a hundred years.
Put it this way, in the last month I worked I paid £2000 in tax. Since then I've been a financial drain on the UK taxpayer.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
