Threat to Civil Liberties

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 1st Oct 2005

Almost 600 stop and search forms were given out by the police at the Labour Party's Brighton Conference

An e-mail from Sussex Police to "Opinion Formers" in Crawley and the wider Sussex area has been condemned by Crawley Liberal Democrats Councillor, Gordon Seekings.

The e-mail gave the Police view of the events at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. It sort to justify their action in preventing an 82 year old man, Mr Wolfgang, in re-entering the Conference after being ejected for shouting "Rubbish" during a Speech by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Gordon said "The e-mail was littered with phrases that sought to reassure the public about any terrorist threat but only highlighted the threat to our Civil Liberties."

Phrases used included:

...police officers have been given the power under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act to stop and search any persons in Brighton & Hove.

...This power does not require any suspicion and is used to detect and deter...

...By definition, many people going about their normal lawful business were stopped and checked using these powers.

...Almost 600 stop and search forms have been given out by the police.

Gordon has replied to the Police saying "That this e-mail has confirmed every sort of fear I have had about the abuse of power by this government i.e. their complete lack of understanding that what makes a society civilised is the freedom of speech. I am now firmly of the view that the Police/government have lost the plot on the balance between free speech and the rights of society to collectively defend itself."

Gordon went on to say "Your e-mail is also very disingenuous. If the Prevention of Terrorism Act is the only way you, as the police, could have prevented Mr Wolfgang from re-entering the building there's something badly wrong."

Gordon is also concerned about the spending of millions of pounds of tax-payers money in deterring an elderly man from shouting "Rubbish" and another man from wearing an anti-Blair tee shirt, when the detection rate for crime in Crawley is still at an appallingly high level.

Gordon finished by saying "I do not believe we live in a Police State but with the existing legislation in place there is the danger we could slip into one without realising it. If you add into this that we are now the most CCTV'd country in the world; that the Police DNA database is not just restricted to criminals; that the acceptance of evidence gained through torture (information from the USA's Guantanamo Bay) is not questioned; covert support for the CIA's extraordinary rendition of e-mail and 'phone taps (any call/message to a country outside of the UK that is routed via the USA can be listened/looked at under American law); house arrest on mere suspicion; the proposals for 90-day detention and the government's attacks on the judiciary... it's not the terrorists who are threatening our way of life."

"We must not forget the haunting lines written by Pastor Martin Niemoeller about Nazi Germany 'First they came for the Jews, but I did not speak out because I was not a Jew,' it then goes on and ends 'Then they came for me and there was no-one left to speak out for me.' "

"Of course this is not the 1930s and it is not Germany and New Labour is not Adolf Hitler. But the problem is the same. Arbitrary power is arbitrary power. If we do not insist on the proper rule of law, instead of more and more heavy-handed arbitrary power for the powers-that-be, we will have only ourselves to blame when they come for us. However innocent we may be."

----- The Police e-mail in full -----

This is the largest counter terrorism operation that Sussex Police runs. It involves hundreds of police officers and staff working hard to keep the conference and the city safe. As part of that operation, police officers have been given the power under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act to stop and search any persons in Brighton & Hove.

This power does not require any suspicion and is used to detect and deter acts relevant to terrorism.

In discussion with some of the local community, many expressed the view that they wanted the police to use these powers to keep them safe. Of utmost importance to us is the way that officers speak to and interact with members of the public when being stopped.

By definition, many people going about their normal lawful business were stopped and checked using these powers.

This is what creates the deterrent for terrorists.

There has been a lot of speculation in the media about the events of Wednesday 28th September. Two delegates were escorted from the conference hall in the Brighton Centre by stewards.

One of the delegates later returned to the search channel. When his pass was scanned the database showed that it had been blocked. The protocol in this situation is that a police officer is called. This is purely to support the access control personnel in their role to make sure that only accredited pass holders are allowed in. A police officer attended and asked the man to wait for a member of the Labour Party.

The delegate asked the police officer what powers he was using. The police officer responded that he was using his powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act in order to confirm the delegate's details. This does not in any way suggest that the officer thought the gentleman was a terrorist, nor treated him as such. The delegate was not arrested and not searched.

He was just asked to wait. The police officer gave the delegate a form recording the fact that he had spoken to him.

Members of the public who are stopped and spoken to or stopped and searched by the police are given forms as a record. Almost 600 stop and search forms have been given out by the police to members of the public they have spoken to or searched since the start of the Labour Party Conference.

It is clear from media reporting that they have been keen to give the impression that this gentleman was somehow arrested, detained or treated as a terrorist. This is no more the case for this delegate than it has been for the hundreds of other stop checks or interactions which the police have had as part of their work in Brighton over the conference. I must stress that the delegate was not arrested or searched at any point during his brief interaction with the police officer and that, in the type of circumstance faced here, it is a matter for the Labour Party to decide who they allow into their conference.

We are very pleased that the conference has gone well and everyone has remained safe. Over 115 arrests were made for crime related matters.

This has been a successful operation and feedback from the vast majority of attendees and members of the community has been positive.