May wants our liberté
OBAMA’S been getting stick for not joining the big march in Paris last week.
The one- million strong crowd looked like it was being led by European leaders, including David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But to me it looked like an organised photoshoot, probably followed by rides in bullet-proof cars for a self-congratulatory drinks party at a bomb-proof fortress somewhere.
Suddenly stayaway President Obama looks like the smart one. I’M in Paris this weekend. It is still just as beautiful but now everywhere you see the slogan “Je suis Charlie” and soldiers on the streets.
Some of our group thought about not coming but for me there was no question of cancelling.
Rest assured, I’m taking Foreign Office advice and being “extra vigilant”. There’s that saying again. It’s all so meaningless. If anything, I take it to mean: Don’t enjoy yourself, be on the lookout, trust no one – and cause maximum disruption if you see someone with a backpack or a beard.
Although how much fun you can have with heavily armed troops on the streets depends on your view.
Threatened
Most people feel safer and reassured. Not me. I feel threatened, like I’m in a war zone and in danger of being caught in crossfire if I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But the real reason they are there is to look like the authorities are doing something to protect citizens.
I’m cynical. Despite the Paris murderers being known to the police, the terrorists still managed to cause death and mayhem quite easily while running around with Kalashnikovs. The French were caught short. And we will be too.
Maybe soon, maybe later, maybe never. But, given our inability to keep a check on who enters and leaves this country, and our penchant for harbouring undesirables, I’d say it might be soon.
And we always hear that they have foiled plots but they don’t have the “resources” to stop them all.
So our Government’s answer to everything, following any atrocity, is more laws that allow more snooping on the general populace.
Theresa May didn’t waste any time telling the House of Commons that innocent lives are at risk because the security services don’t have the power to monitor emails.
As if terrorists would be dumb enough to communicate by email, Skype or another hackable means.
So Nick Clegg, it pains me to say, is right when he says that tracking grannies visiting garden centres is not going to make us safer.
It isn’t. Watching EVERYONE, surely, is time wasted that should be spent watching real potential suspects, like the Paris murderers.
If they’re monitoring absolutely everyone, they simply won’t have the time to do that.