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| Britain |
| Former UK Cabinet minister Robin "ThunderGnome" Cook 'troubled' by terror raids |
| 2004-08-24 |
| Former Cabinet minister Gosh! Now why would that be?! He said such raids risked "alienating" the very people I'll call Gnomey's bluff: why do we need a multicultural society? He was speaking at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Monday where he made the annual "I'm deeply troubled by the increase in raids," he told the packed audience. "There were 30,000 raids under the Prevention of Terrorism Act last year from which less than 100 individuals were charged with offences relating to terrorism." "See - if we'd only held 3,000 raids, we'd have 90% less terrorists!" He added: "There's a real risk that if we continue with that we will end up alienating the very people we need for a successful multicultural society and a successful appeal to people around the world of a different culture." OK, I'm stumped. Anyone here speak PC? |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #19 Do you live in the UK? If you don't, then what do you know?!? |
| Posted by: Rantburg 2004-08-24 1:24:44 PM |
| #18 When I read this at the BBC this AM I asked myself why the U.K. needs a multi cultural society. Cook is a moonbat thats no news. This story has not been fact checked. The figures are bogus. Typical BBC trying to mak an issue where none exists. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-08-24 5:55:51 PM |
| #17 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: Rantburg TROLL 2004-08-24 1:24:44 PM |
| #16 The UK needs a multicultural society so that the liberal party doesn't have to admit they were wrong in promoting mass emigration from Pakistan after the war. The UK doesn't need a multicultural society, its' a small world after all and everythings interconnected so all of the benefits are there without the constant grinding away between cultures over underwear ads and pig statues. |
| Posted by: RJSchwarz 2004-08-24 1:23:36 PM |
| #15 The White Knight of truth just rode by.... My hero!! - visit us again some time! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-24 10:57:31 AM |
| #14 According to Statewatch magazine ( a watch dog organization covering all the EU nations): âBetween 11 September 2001 and the end of March 2004 there were 561 arrests under the Terrorism Act (TA) 2000. But by the end of January 2004 only 100 people had been charged and there had been just six convictions for offences actually related to terrorism (including two for membership of the previously entirely legal International Sikh Youth Federation). Two hundred and thirty people arrested under the pretext of prevention of terrorism were subsequently charged with other offences, mainly deception or violations of immigration legislation. The supposed anti-terrorist provisions are being used as a dragnet to pick up and criminalise failed asylum seekers, or foreign students or workers whose visas have expired.â It appears that Mr. Cookâs 30,000+ number arenât actually âraidsâ but the more numerous âStop and Searchâ operations, as recounted here: Stop and search At the end of last year(2003) Statewatch magazine reported that the number of stop-and-searches carried out under anti-terrorist operations during the year was more than double the figure being officially given out by the Home Office, and stood at 71,100 instead of the claimed 32,100; some police forces having counted their anti-terrorist stop-and-searches under the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, rather than under the TA. The percentage of arrests resulting from TA stop-and-searches was just 1.18%, compared to 13% for the ordinary criminal stop-and-searches made under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. |
| Posted by: RN 2004-08-24 10:52:04 AM |
| #13 The real question is why does Britain need to be a multicultural society? Seems to me it already had a pretty successful society. If you're a 'Liberal' like Cook, your idea of the perfect society is something more akin to South African apartheid than most people would instinctively think desirable. All in the spirit of protecting the brown-skinned types from the corruption than is genuine liberal western culture, you see... The '30,000 raids' figure is nonsense. Probably sourced from somewhere like alMaj. We probably don't even have 30,000 police officers. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-08-24 10:35:05 AM |
| #12 The real question is why does Britain need to be a multicultural society? Seems to me it already had a pretty successful society. |
| Posted by: Spot 2004-08-24 10:27:23 AM |
| #11 30,000 raids and the Muslim Council of Britain would have sandbagged their central office. Just hyperbole from a once senior figure now sadly forgotten by his party and the public. I think 3,000 raids is nearer the mark - although 30,000 would impress upon our muslim 'friends' the need to co-operate or leave. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-24 10:17:18 AM |
| #10 Ich habe sauerkraut in meinen lederhosen. /Top Secret |
| Posted by: Heysenbergmayhavebeenhere 2004-08-24 10:14:18 AM |
| #9 Assuming his numbers are right (he should have access to them), 300 raids per charged suspect doesn't sound very effective. That doesn't mean the problem Cook thinks it means, of course, but does that sound like a good ratio to those of you who know the business? 30,000 raids sounds fine, but I'd like to hear they got more than 100 bad guys out of them. |
| Posted by: VAMark 2004-08-24 10:12:30 AM |
| #8 Don't get me started on the Krauts when I'm in this mood! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-24 9:57:55 AM |
| #7 Dang, Howard--that almost looks like one of those horrid, infinitely long German nouns, like Nahverteidigungswaffe or Kabelnetzbetreiber or Umfrageergebnis! |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-08-24 9:36:20 AM |
| #6 30,000 raids? Sounds like a number pulled out of his well impacted rear w/o any connection to anti-terrorist actions. Britain needs a sanctuary zone completely free of investigations, searches and raids for terrorists. I suggest a 100m zone centered on Cook's house. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-08-24 9:33:15 AM |
| #5 Howard, hilarious! And to think I was just gonna call him an ass! |
| Posted by: GreatestJeneration 2004-08-24 9:26:38 AM |
| #4 LOL! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-24 9:24:13 AM |
| #3 I'm at work and have limited time to respond. I would like to add to the above: completeandutterfuckinggingerpubedtwatthat deservestohavehisheadviolentlystavedinwithaclawhammer.. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-24 9:20:39 AM |
| #2 Howard, don't hold back, tell us what you really think :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-24 9:03:23 AM |
| #1 Complete fucking twat. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-08-24 8:44:34 AM |