"The police and security authorities are there to uphold the law - not to decide in advance who the criminals are (or might be) - we have courts for that."


Exactly! However, there are some laws which have been passed and which are being proposed that severely limit our personal freedom. Anyone interested in how our basic freedoms are being taken away by this and previous governments, should read A C Grayling's latest book, Liberty in the Age of Terror: A Defence of Civil Society and Enlightenment Values. He cites in detail the argument against such insidious infringements of personal liberty as identity cards and outlines the potential abuses of this and other measures that are supposed to 'protect' us but, in fact, do nothing of the sort. He also lists that various acts that have now become law and how these also infringe on our liberty. It's a very scary scenario indeed for anyone who does not want to live in what is rapidly becoming akin to a totalitarian state.