I’ve seen some disturbing things in my time, but the howling silence in most of the UK media about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, whose measures include stifling protest and legislative cleansing of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, is close to the top of the list.
We’ve all had the fantasy, right? About what we'd do if politicians here attacked democracy, seized dictatorial powers and introduced special laws against minorities? How brave and noble we are in these dreams! Now it happens, and we clear our throats and look the other way.
If you ever wondered how dictators come to power, this is how: through resistance melting away like summer snow, as journalists and other public figures suddenly discover they're late for an urgent appointment about something-or-other. Sorry, must dash! Toodle-pip.
I’ve learnt to set my expectations low, and to understand that the BBC, which to a large extent still sets the media agenda, is almost as compliant as the billionaire press. Even so, I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now. Or, rather, what I’m not seeing.
The BBC airs furious debates on “liberties” all right: about face masks and other issues that obsess the extreme right. But these look like chaff, being used to confuse us while far greater liberties are removed.
The BBC used to see the legitimate spectrum of debate as stretching from Blairites to Thatcherites. Anyone left of Blair was an “extremist” (as senior editors labelled me and others). Now the debates it highlights are those dividing mainstream Tories from the most extreme Tories.
The attack on democratic rights is going all the way now. Raab's announcement on the Human Rights Act is just the latest case. See also the voter suppression measures, the Nationality and Borders Bill, the extension of the Official Secrets Act and the proposed Interpretation Bill
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