Police State
When people accuse Britain of heading towards “a police state”, they mean something a little different to historical uses of the term. The western (at least) world has evolved, and so have methods being put to use. Drawing parallels doesn’t mean that two things are exactly the same.
When people (rightly) point out that, say, East Germany and Britain are worlds apart, all manner of angst is brought to the surface. On the one hand, using the term “police state” can be seen to trivialise past (and present) examples of police states in comparison; on the other, by deflating the accusation, it also trivialises the real problems we’re facing.
The accusers do most certainly accept that Britain is not a literal facsimile of East Germany, but are, legitimately, very concerned by the lack of oversight afforded by the authorities. Similarly, those who rebut such accusations need to accept that you don’t have to be able to perform a direct like-for-like comparison between MI5 and the Stasi before being able to draw comparisons, and with the benefit of hindsight (and history books), spot telltale trends.
In the past century or so, some of the most horrific regimes in the world have come about because the citizens initially supported them, without realising what they would become. While your constituency MP may look offended if you dare to suggest that the democratically-elected Government should be limited in the powers it can grant itself and the corridors of power that it controls, ask them this: what would happen if an extremist movement ended up with a parliamentary majority and started ramming through legislation, altering the fundamental balance between individuals and the authorities, in the same way that the Government have attempted to through the course of their position?
“Oh, but that wouldn’t happen”
Wouldn’t it? Why not?
When Governments grant themselves more power, they must realise that they are not just granting themselves that power, but anybody who follows them. No party’s majority is guaranteed while there’s still time to prevent the worst from happening.
