Civil liberties are, it seems, a dying breed in modern Britain. No longer is an Englishman’s - or anyone elses - home their castle. Now we are under surveillance by the state even when we are in our home:
The sex lives of council-tax payers are being secretly monitored by local authority inspectors to establish whether residents claiming single person’s discounts are really living alone.
Undercover snoopers are being used to find out how often lovers visit and whether supposedly single residents are sharing a bed every night with the same person…
Local authorities have adopted the techniques after the government urged them to carry out “spot checks” on properties where a single-person council-tax discount is claimed. Councils are also demanding that householders give access to their bedrooms in return for the single-person discount. (The Times)
A large state means a surveillance state. The more they provide, the more spies they have to employ in order to check up on us, to ensure that we are doing things as they say we ought.
The British way of life used to rest on the principles of liberty and freedom. There was no way that the government could justify spying on the people as a matter of course. The right to privacy was inviolable.
But in the years since the Second World War, that has all changed. We now have CCTV that watches us every day, and a government and councils that requires more and more personal information from us. And now they want to check our bedrooms for underwear.
This is, unfortunately, only a few steps away from 1984 and the telescreen.*
*Please note that this means that I believe that New Labour is setting an unfortunate precedent, not that their intention is turn the UK into Airstrip One.
1984? The Apple Mac, the British edition of Trivial Pursuit, Duran Duran, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Smiths and big hair and shoulderpads? Great!
Or do you mean “Nineteen Eighty Four”, the novel by George Orwell?
Incredible but true - I have the single persons discount. Maybe the eveil swines are monitoring me…
Maria - The novel. Hence the italics and all the references to the story.
Mutley - Maybe they are, maybe they are… [Do you have any underwear that isn't yours in your bedroom?]