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  Date / Time: 4/19/2009 11:13 PM UTC

  LAUREN BOOTH: Wake up and smell the pepper spray. These 3,609 new laws are to control us, not protec
  

  I was outside the Bank of England during the G20 protest, not far from where passer-by Ian Tomlinson died after being assaulted by a police officer.

  The police presence was as excessive as it was provocative.

  The Metropolitan Police’s Territorial Support Group (TSG) are the aggressive offspring of the disgraced Special Patrol Group of the Eighties. 

  

  A woman is attacked by an officer during the G20 protests in London earlier this month

  When policing events, they are issued with ‘Nato’ helmets, flame-retardant overalls, stab vests, gloves, balaclavas and boots. All carry the standard batons, pepper spray and cuffs.

  Yet let’s try to remember the last full-on riot in Britain that resulted from
  a political rally – ah yes, the Poll Tax riots almost 20 years ago.

  But the police are still authorised to use Tasers and firearm-trained TSG officers carry pistols or sub-machine guns.

  My God, when did we accept that armoured cars, special snatch squads and armed police were the right level of policing for protests against Government policy?

  How did we sleepwalk into a situation where our movements, all of our electronic data, even our DNA, is stored on a massive central database?

  In fact, it was easy for Blairites to con us into accepting the 3,609 new offences they have created since 1997.

  They tapped into our fears and prejudices so we simply ignored the repeal of our rights.

  Anti-terror legislation was not too subtly sold as being aimed at evil, dastardly Jihadi-types – not ‘us’.

   

  More...

  • Officer who hit me was a coward and a bully boy, claims G20 protester 'attacked by police'
  • Policeman deletes tourist's photos of London bus 'to stop terrorism'
  • Jay Leno joins Susan Boyle fan club with hilarious look-a-like impression on his US chat show
  • 'They called me Susie Simple', but singing superstar Susan Boyle is the one laughing now

  Presumably this legislation was intended, then, for people such as my friend Farukh. Farukh is as Brummie as Spaghetti Junction and Tony Hancock.

  The only difference is that he is a Muslim. I was on the Viva Palestina convoy with him as he delivered aid directly to grieving, injured, homeless families in the Gaza Strip.

  In Britain, he is a care worker who helps to rehabilitate young offenders back into society.

  On his return from Palestine, Farukh was held for six hours at a UK airport.

  Ever since, his work place, bank manager and other work contacts have received regular visits from Special Branch officers asking about his political beliefs and lifestyle.

  Last week he told me: ‘They’re putting untold pressure on me and it just won’t stop.’

  I have been shoved and filmed time and again by aggressive police officers for attending meetings such as the alternative Labour Party conference in Manchester in 2006, organised by Stop The War.

  But for Muslim Britons who go on marches, raise money for Palestinian charities or dare to express political views of any kind, the consequences are far more serious.

  They are monitored, put under pressure, harassed at airports and overtly threatened. I am not likely to suffer the horrors of extraordinary rendition, but Farukh is.

  It’s time we all woke up and smelled the pepper spray. These new laws were not created to protect British people but to control us.

  Take the case of Malcolm Sleath, chairman of his local park society in Enfield, North London, who was told by police he had breached Section 44 of the Terrorism Act.

  This law, amended in February, allows police to stop and search anyone they consider a terrorist threat.

  What had Mr Sleath done to warrant the threat of ten years in prison? He had filmed the officers driving their police car erratically across the park.

  The 62-year-old management consultant said: ‘They are supposed to investigate things on foot, so I wanted to show the picture to their sergeant.’

  Their bosses issued an immediate apology. Mr Sleath was lucky – had he been called Mr Patel he could have been subjected to a detailed, unwarranted, long-term investigation.

  The question we must ask now is: are any of us ‘good’ enough to be safe from detention and harm imposed by Government bodies, out-of-control councils or bullying TSG officers?

  

  Living the dream: Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle

  You’ve got the talent, Susan, now for the Demi Moore body

  Susan Boyle, the stout West Lothian lady who sang her way to stardom on the opening night of Britain’s Got Talent on ITV, is going to change.

  Despite judge Amanda Holden vowing that she ‘won’t let Simon Cowell take her to his dentist and I certainly won’t let her near his hairdresser’, it is inevitable that by this summer, Susan’s ‘dramatic new look’ will be unveiled in OK! magazine.

  Our first instinct when we think of this may be: ‘Aah, that’s a shame.’

  But for goodness sake, Amanda, stop talking about Susan as if she is retarded instead of a talented, if somewhat plain, virgin.

  I say, go for it, Susan. Get the full Demi Moore body surgery, love – and make up for lost time.

  Political hunger, Bolivian style

  I reckon Bolivia could be an interesting place to live. Imagine for a moment waking up to a fine cup of freshly ground local coffee and the news (delivered by a Spanish-speaking John Humphrys) that the nation’s leader has gone on hunger strike over a point of principle.

  Bliss! That’s exactly what Bolivian president Evo Morales did recently. He refused to eat for five days until congress agreed to better representation for the indigenous majority, to which he belongs. And with the Met running amok on our streets, I’d feel right at home with South American policing, too.
  
  Research in the United States has proven that students surfing social networking sites get lower grades than their peers. They devote so much time updating their personal settings page that studying takes up as little as one hour per week.
  

  The only human beings on the planet who needed ‘research’ to tell them this were Ed Balls and his education ministry advisers.
  

  Yes, those up-to-the-minute funsters who think putting social networking on the primary school curriculum is a good idea.
  

  All together now, boys and girls: ‘Well, duh!
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