Taking liberties

Oddly, perhaps, the Metropolitan Police Federation is supporting photojournalists in their protest against the under-reported change to the law that means you're effectively no longer allowed to take pictures of the police in the UK (article). (Surely, as the police often argue about others, if they're doing nothing wrong, why should they mind? Oh, right...)

This is just another small step in the constant erosion of civil liberties in the UK, highlighted this week by Stella Rimington (article), the former UK spy boss, who was (yet again) very critical of the UK government. As was the International Commission of Jurists, headed by Mary Robinson, who reckon that the UK and the US are undermining international law. (Their dodgy practises and financial deregulation haven't done much for international economics either recently.)