Counsel of despair

"Counsel" is the impeccably liberal house magazine of barristers (or to use the correct term, "utter barristers"). In the most recent issue, the question is raised (but not answered) - "Is it an incitement to religious hatred [and therefore a criminal offence - JM] to denounce as abhorrent the Islamic principle in some traditions that apostasy be punished by death?" There is also discussion of the publication of the Danish cartoons which nowhere considers, or even mentions, the idea that no-one has a right not to be offended, nor the principle of freedom of expression.

That whirring sound you hear is John Stuart Mill turning in the grave.

No2ID!

The latest Government data loss has, it seems to me, been pretty downplayed in the media - largely because Parliament isn't sitting, but also, it seems to me, because we have just got used to it, blase about the personal details of tens of thousands of peope being...well, lost, like you lose your keys. 

In fact, of course, it's wholly unacceptable. But what it also underlines, surely, is that the ID card scheme is a really, really bad idea. Putting aside the significant and substantive points of principle (which I consider overwhelming) for a moment, consider and meditate on the simple fact that no computer system is wholly secure and hack-proof. If a human has designed it, a human can hack it. Therefore, logic dictates that the National Identity Register will be compromised, probably quite soon after going live, even if there isn't a data loss due to the Government's own incompetence. As such, it seems to me, the entire latest justification of the legislation - providing secure and guaranteed proof of identity for all citizens - is holed beneath the waterline. The hacking - which as I say, will inevitably happen - will be disastrous and a massive pain in the arse for those directly affected, impacting on all parts of their lives; and it could also, depending on who the hackers are, have significant wider security implications.

And it's all due to start very shortly. The first cards, it is claimed, will be issued this year or next.

Ffs.

Bill of Rights?

Calls for a bill of rights are not going away. Trouble is, some want it to be on top of the Human Rights Act, and some want it in place of the HRA because it sounds more English and less European and criminal-coddling. Can these competing forces get their act together? Plus, the nail in the coffin, Jack Straw's in favour. Rights to a clean environment etc are going to be so hard to enforce in the courts that at the moment, I'm not that excited.