This entry was posted on
Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at
10:07 am and is filed
under Gordon Brown, Page 3 – News in Briefs.

Brown can’t honestly expect 42 days to pass through the Lords. This was a bloody dangerous attempt at a show of power, with a pathetic result.

There’s bound to be plenty of talk about the support from Northern Ireland that helped Gordon to squeak by, but this morning my eyes are drawn a little further south…

Today, in the Downing Street Echo, Page 3 lovely Claire Tully (24, from Dublin, who has a First Class Honours in Biochemistry, thank you very much) gets her cha-chas out to deliver this message on behalf of the editor, Rebekah Wade her own personal take on matters:

Claire thinks the 42 days detention measure means the authorities will have to strike a delicate balance between preserving civil liberties and protecting the British public from terrorists. She says it shouldn’t be used “without strong and valid reasons”.

What, like this whole issue was?

This cynical manipulation of the terrorist threat for political gain makes me sick to my stomach…. and I’d love to dwell on how happy it makes me that we have yet another PM who thinks he can play pissy power games with it, but there’s plenty of dissatisfaction here for you to chew on and right now at Bloggerheads it’s time to point, laugh and get a wee bit frightened about what happens when they do try to take the issue seriously:

BBC – Secret terror files left on train: Police are investigating a “serious” security breach after a civil servant lost top-secret documents containing the latest intelligence on al-Qaeda. The unnamed Cabinet Office employee apparently breached strict security rules when he left the papers on the seat of a train. A fellow passenger spotted the envelope containing the files and gave it to the BBC, who handed them to the police.

BBC – Terror files official suspended: The Cabinet Office has suspended the civil servant at the centre of an inquiry into the loss of top-secret documents on al-Qaeda and Iraq.

Five quid says the opening paragraph on the top-secret Iraq documents reads; “The place is still in a right mess, but we and our chums over the pond are f**king coining it in.”

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Related bloggage:
Liberal Conspiracy – What a farce
Septicisle – I love a free country
Devil’s Kitchen – 42 days later
Mr Eugenides – 42 days
Sim-O – Lost intelligence?