Britain to get border police force

[afleitch]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6914834.stm

''Britain is to get a "unified border force" to boost the fight against terrorism, the prime minister has said.  A "highly visible" uniformed force would bring together immigration and Customs officers, Gordon Brown said.

He also announced a review of allowing intercept evidence to be used in court, and doubling the 28 days police can question suspects before charging them.

The border force has been called for by the Conservatives for years, and had previously been rejected by ministers.''

And Nick Robinson, for once, is on to something I've been saying for quite a while.


''Today he tells the Sun what it wants to hear about deporting foreign prisoners (a reheat, I'm told, of an announcement made by officials some weeks before he became PM) and terror laws. What's more, there's an intriguing hint in The Sun about him announcing a border police force today. If true, that would presumably be the one proposed by Michael Howard and, er, David Cameron.

Brown has moved to occupy ground left free by Cameron's efforts to prove that the Tories have changed. He's done it in a way that maximises destabilising pressure from Tory MPs and what we used to call the Tory press to, you've guessed it, "lurch to the right". And he's made each of his announcements on the one day of the week when the Tory leader used to be able to count on setting the agenda - PMQs day.

The left meanwhile have been given very little to celebrate save for a man they trust replacing a man they'd come to loathe.''

I'll say it again; Gordon Brown is the most senior Thatcherite that remains in government today and was as Chancellor and is as PM, more so than his predecessor.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Brown is many things, but a Thatcherite he isn't (no one with his views on social policy and constitutional issues is).
I'm now quite sure (and to an extent that I wasn't before he became PM) that he's very much part of the traditional Labour Right (as opposed to Blair and Kinnock, both of which originated on the Soft Left). He's like a sober George Brown.

As for Robinson's comment on the Left; that depends entirely on what is meant by "Left". To claim that the Left within an overall context has been given little to celebrate by Brown is clearly wrong, within the Labour Party context (obviously what Left there is beyond and outside Labour has had little to be happy about, but who's surprised about that?) it's much more complicated. The Soft Left actually has quite a bit to be pleased about; even these new anti-terrorism proposals have enough safeguards and enough caveats to keep the teacher-et-lecturer wing of the party happy enough. What's left of the Hard Left doesn't have much to be happy about o/c, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise either.

[12th Doctor]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

[Democratic Hawk]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

I hope not . Irish Catholics are a well-established part of the Labour base

Dave

[Filuwaúrdjan]

"Border" in this context means at ports, airports and so on.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

Damn! I knew there was something going to foil my dastardly scheme.

Why must Britain get sh**t weather while I'm planning to go over there in over a week or so? Why must the weather suck? I think I'll blame Jesus.

[Democratic Hawk]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

Damn! I knew there was something going to foil my dastardly scheme.

Why must Britain get sh**t weather while I'm planning to go over there in over a week or so? Why must the weather suck? I think I'll blame Jesus.

You telling me the weather's sh**t.  Still, on a more positive note, I ain't affected by the floods

Dave

[Јas]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

LOL

I'm almost certainly the closest of any forumite to a British border, certainly to a land border.

It'll make a change to see 'border police' instead of remarkably young soldiers carrying weapons bigger than they are.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

LOL

I'm almost certainly the closest of any forumite to a British border, certainly to a land border.

It'll make a change to see 'border police' instead of remarkably young soldiers carrying weapons bigger than they are.

Monaghan doesn't count Jas. That's Ulster - I mean pretty much the UK. You have to be a true Blue DUB to be truly wild and Irish... now Cork people on the other hand.. Can't we just flood Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny and Carlow so that we can finally remain a civilized bastion. I mean no-one's using those counties.

[afleitch]

He's trying to do a double whammy - up next is extending the 28 day limit without charge to 56 days for terror suspects. It will probably fail but he wants to stir up support from the populist press. Of course John Reid had stated during the last debate that not one terror suspect needed to be held over 28 days never mind 90; the longest time frame at that point was 14 days.

I don't believe that detaining anyone, without charge and with out letting them know why they are there and potentially ruining their career, education and well being for 56 days is necessary or just. Suspected terrorist or not.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

"Congrats, you swam the channel. Now can you swim back?"

[Јas]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

LOL

I'm almost certainly the closest of any forumite to a British border, certainly to a land border.

It'll make a change to see 'border police' instead of remarkably young soldiers carrying weapons bigger than they are.

Monaghan doesn't count is, o/c, an honourable exception, Jas. That's Ulster - I mean pretty much the UK. You have to be a true Blue DUB to be truly wild and Irish and have the natural propensity to irk the rest of the country by virtue of one's innate sense of superiority... now Cork people on the other hand.. Can't we just flood Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny and Carlow Longford, Roscommon and Cavan so that we can finally remain a civilized bastion. I mean no-one's using those counties.

Corrected your post.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

LOL

I'm almost certainly the closest of any forumite to a British border, certainly to a land border.

It'll make a change to see 'border police' instead of remarkably young soldiers carrying weapons bigger than they are.

Monaghan doesn't count is, o/c, an honourable exception, Jas. That's Ulster - I mean pretty much the UK. You have to be a true Blue DUB to be truly wild and Irish and have the natural propensity to irk the rest of the country by virtue of one's innate sense of superiority... now Cork people on the other hand.. Can't we just flood Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny and Carlow Longford, Roscommon and Cavan so that we can finally remain a civilized bastion. I mean no-one's using those counties.

Corrected your post.

Clearly this new fangled Internet-thingy is messing up Culchie-Monaghan Brain. It just can't handle so much information so puts lots of waffle usually against how the Dubs are stealing all your 1) land 2) wimmen 3) Potatoes - When will the culchie bitterness end?
And why would we want to flood Longford? I mean look at what it's done for Civilisation.... Where would be without Longford Town.. I imagine something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esCuaT1Cs4s

[ilikeverin]

Why must Britain get sh**t weather while I'm planning to go over there in over a week or so? Why must the weather suck? I think I'll blame Jesus.

Hey, now, you'd have to take into account some serious butterfly effect if you're blaming Jesus all the way in Washington.

[KEmperor]

Ummmm... isn't Britain almost completely surrounded by water?  Is this to keep the Irish out?

Basically my thoughts exactly.

[AkSaber]

"Border" in this context means at ports, airports and so on.

Ah. Now that makes sense. But does this mean that Britain hasn't had a unified security force with the intent of protecting its ports and airports?