A SNOOPS CHARTER

I lost all faith in the last labour government, not just because of their illegal war but also when they started calls for identity cards, DNA samples, and invented ever more reasons to snoop into the affairs of all its citizens. The enemy at that time were terrorists, but it has since moved on to paedophiles to internet trolls, back to paedophiles.  It doesn't really matter who the enemy is, the objective is to accumulate as much private and confidential information on the populace as it can, in order to stay in power for ever. 
 
Almost one year ago today, a middle aged woman died as a result of the actions taken by a group of concerned citizens online.  As we mark the anniversary, Jim Gamble appears on the BBC, again, calling for an army of volunteers made up of the 'right' kind of people, with the 'right' kind of values, to patrol the internet for 'paedophiles', giving them the use of police premises and police IT equipment. 

When he speaks about the 'right' kind of people, we can only hope that he didn't mean the ghastly couple who preceded him on the same news report. A weathered Barbie who pretends to be 14 and a punch drunk thug, who use their own daughter's face and profile to root out pathetic misfits looking for a child to molest.  Or, more accurately, they seek out a few weak skulls to crack open, egged on by a frenzied crowd.  The best protection this odious pair can give their daughter is love, attention and a good education, unless of course, they are planning on going with her on every date she has for the next 10/20 years.    

Happily, big Jim's contemptible ideas have few, if any, takers and I was glad that the commentator mentioned the suicide risk posed to innocent people when groups of vigilantes are encouraged to act outside of the Law.  The suicide risk doesn't seem to bother Jim one bit. Naming and shaming is his thing. Thirty nine men killed themselves during the last Witchfinder General Hunt  Operation Ore, and it was just a year ago that he appeared on Sky News demanding a crack down on internet trolls followed by the suicide of Brenda Leyland.

There is no suggestion of course that Brenda Leyland was attempting to groom children online, she was accused of being an internet troll - a crime equally as heinous in the eyes of Jim Gamble.  She wasn't an internet troll either.  She was an innocent woman, caught up in a power struggle - in the eyes of those who used her, she was collateral damage, a price the public have to pay if they want the authorities to protect them.  

For some time now Jim Gamble has been seeking a special force of his own to lead.  A force made up of the 'right' people, people who can skip past all the formalities of police vetting, training, etc, and can go straight to the enforcement section, Judge Dredd style.  People with the 'right' values, who will do the job just for the love of it, and of course, a stylish uniform and a badge. 

I do hope that the new Labour leadership are not quite so enthralled by Jim Gamble's ideas, as the last one, if they are, Labour will never get into power again. The public can now read beyond the headlines and the truth can no longer be suppressed.  What the pontificators of Jeremy Corbyn fail to grasp, is the fact that the audience has changed.  The general population are becoming educated at the fastest rate ever known to history. Kids are leaving school, not just with qualifications, but with a key to information on every subject they were ever curious about.  And its not just kids.  Those of us who remember scouring libraries and reference sections, know all too well the amount of time and labour it took to track down the information we were seeking, now it is only a click away.  

We are all researchers.  We are no longer reliant on the mainstream media for our news and we are no longer restricted to one newspaper and one point of view.  Now everything is available to everyone, not just the privileged few.  Ten years ago, hardly anyone knew who Jeremy Corbyn was.  Now they do.