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GOVERNMENT AND COUNCILS TO SPY ON ALL OUR PHONE CALLS
Officials from the top of Government to lowly council officers will be given unprecedented powers to access details of every phone call in Britain under laws coming into force on 1st October. The new rules compel phone companies to retain information, however private, about all landline and mobile calls, and make them available to some 795 public bodies and quangos. The move, enacted by the personal decree of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, will give police and security services a right they have long demanded: to delve at will into the phone records of British citizens and businesses.

But the same powers will also be handed to the tax authorities, 475 local councils, and a host of other organisations, including the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health, the Immigration Service, the Gaming Board and the Charity Commission. The initiative, formulated in the wake of the Madrid and London terrorist attacks of 2004 and 2005, was put forward as a vital tool in the fight against terrorism. However, civil liberties campaigners say the new powers amount to a 'free for all' for the State snooping on its citizens. And they angrily questioned why the records were being made available to so many organisations.

Similar provisions are being brought in across Europe, but under much tighter regulation. In Britain, say critics, private and sensitive information will inevitably fall into the wrong hands. Records will detail precisely what calls are made, their time and duration, and the name and address of the registered user of the phone. The files will even reveal where people are when they made mobile phone calls. By knowing which mast transmitted the signal, officials will be able to pinpoint the source of a call to within a few feet. This can even be used to track someone's route if, for example, they make a call from a moving car.

Files will also be kept on the sending and receipt of text messages. By 2009 the Government plans to extend the rules to cover internet use: the websites we have visited, the people we have emailed and phone calls made over the net. The new laws will make it a legal requirement for phone companies to keep records for at least a year, and to make them available to the authorities. Until now, companies have been reluctant to allow unfettered access to their files, citing data protection laws, although they have had a voluntary arrangement with law enforcement agencies since 2003.

Many of the organisations granted access to the records already have systems allowing them to search phone-call databases over a computer link without needing staff at the phone company to intervene. Police requests for phone records will need the approval of a superintendent or inspector, while council officials must get permission from the authority's assistant chief officer. Thousands of staff in other agencies will be legally entitled to retrieve the records once the request is approved by a senior official. The new measures were implemented after the Home Secretary signed a 'statutory instrument' on July 26. The process allows the Government to alter laws without a full act of Parliament.

The move was nodded through the House of Lords two days earlier without a debate. It puts into UK law a European Directive aimed at the 'investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crime'. But the British law allows the information to be used much more widely to combat all crimes, however minor. The huge number of organisations allowed to access this data was attacked by Liberty, the civil liberties campaign group. Other organisations allowed to see the data include the Royal Navy Regulating Branch, the Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, the Department of Trade and Industry, NHS Trusts, ambulance and fire services, the Department of Transport and the Department for the Environment.

Last year, the voluntary arrangement allowed 439,000 searches of phone records but the Government brought in legislation because the industry did not routinely keep all the information it wanted. Different authorities will have different levels of access to the systems. Police and intelligence services will be able to see more detailed information than local authorities. And officials at NHS Trusts and ambulance and fire services can obtain the records only in rare cases when, for example, they are trying to save a patient's life. The new system will be overseen by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, who also ensures security and intelligence services' phone taps are legal.

The commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, reports to the Prime Minister and already carries out random inspections of some agencies legally allowed to see phone records under the existing voluntary scheme. Last year inspectors visited 22 councils already making 'significant' use of their powers' to access phone records. A report said the results were 'variable', but within the law. Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner, which has responsibly for protecting personal information and policing the Data Protection Act had virtually no role in the new laws.

The Home Office said there were safeguards to ensure the new law was being used properly. Every authority had a nominated senior member of staff who was legally responsible for the use the phone data was put to, 'the integrity of the process' and for 'reporting errors'. A spokesman said, "The most detailed level of data can be accessed only by law enforcement agencies such as the police. More basic access is available to local authority bodies such as trading standards and environmental health who can only use these powers to prevent and detect crime."

A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils across England and Wales, said, "Councils would only use these powers in circumstances such as benefit fraud, when the taxpayer is being ripped off for many thousands of pounds." He added that it was 'very unlikely' the powers would be used against non-payers of council tax or for parking fines 'as the sums involved are not sufficient to justify the use of this sort of information or the costs involved in applying it'.

LEEDS IS SAFE, HONEST!
And yes it is. If you live in the castle, have your food delivered, pull the drawbridge up and never venture out. Detective Inspector Neil Beatie, who seeks to reassure the public of just how safe Leeds is, said, "Leeds is a safe place and West Yorkshire Police continue to work towards ensuring that this remains the case. However we would like to remind people, especially the new students in the area, not to walk alone at night. Organise transport to take you home or if you are walking then please walk in groups." So there you go. Leeds is safe. Just do not walk alone or if you must go out then arrange a gang of your own to ensure your survival.

POLICE GUIDELINES FOR EID CELEBRATIONS
I am not sure how peaceful the previous "Eid Celebrations" in Rusholme have been in the past but if the police figures of 70 vehicle seizure warnings being issued at last years event, they are not that peaceful. The Chief Executive of Manchester Council for Community Relations (how much does that cost the tax payer) has issued what seems a threat to me to the local True Brit Community:

"If anyone is intent on causing problems for the local community, then please stay away."

Disrupting the working, travelling public, half of Rusholme roads are to be sealed off and so peaceful is this celebration expected to be, that they are increasing the numbers of police patrolling the streets. Again one wonders who is picking up the bill. Dhimmi Superintendent John O'Hare has issued the following statement of servitude on behalf of his masters:

"Eid is a very important part of the Muslim calendar and we are extremely proud that Rusholme is a focal point for the UK Muslim community. We welcome visitors to the area and hope the celebrations are enjoyable for all. As part of the policing operation, and to allow the local Muslim community to celebrate their religious festival with minimal disruption, an increased number of police officers will be patrolling the area and will be diverting traffic away from Wilmslow Road during the celebrations. This may mean that journeys through Rusholme are likely to take longer than usual. I would like to ask residents, and students who might be new to the area and not aware of these celebrations, to be patient with these traffic disruptions and respect this very important Muslim festival."

MUSLIMS UNABLE TO SLEEP BECAUSE OF ......
We have misjudged Muslem men. It seems that they are not the aggressors but the victims. How wrong can we have been? Perhaps we should fall to our knees and express our regret for not realising the fact that they are just poor misunderstood, emotionally abused creatures who need our understanding. Discounting the cruelty Muslim men inflict on any animal, child or wife that they consider their possessions, Nik Abdul Azik Nik Mat (did I spell that right?) a spiritual Leader in the Malaysian Islamic Party had this to say,

"We always hear about the abuse of children and wives in households, which is easily perceived by the eye, but the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen. Our prayers become unfocused and our sleep is often disturbed."

And what is giving the males sleepless nights and preventing them from praying? Why, it is women in sexy clothes that they sometimes see on the street. Perhaps they should remember what their Hitchhikers Guide to the Muslim World recommends - Avert the gaze in the presence of unveiled women who are not their property or family. But no they peek.

And the sight of young girls (how young?) in jeans and T-shirts is driving them insane, even more than they usually are that is. So much so, that they cannot sleep or pray. And of course for those of us in the know, they are forbidden to practice the "Secret Sin" to gain relief, because a Muslim from long ago, once said it would make them go blind. No wonder they commit so many rapes.

Old Nik Abdul, you remember, is the one who said that women should not wear lipstick or perfume as it encourages rape. Well those poor men might get some sleep soon. They have started fining Muslim women for not wearing the veil or head scarves and have started separate check-out lines in places like supermarkets.