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Regrettably, there is an exception ... the old maxim that extreme cases make for bad laws has been forgotten by today's conservatives.

Article Excerpt
Let me quote from the Prime Minister's 8 September Joint Press Conference with the Attorney General, announcing his case for a 'number of very significant changes which will further strengthen our counter-terrorism laws':

We are unfortunately living in an era and at a time when unusual but necessary measures are needed to cope with an unusual and threatening situation. I believe these measures do provide a lot of extra protection but they do not, given the circumstances in which we live, unfairly restrict the rights of the citizen. I think they do strike the right balance. I think they are overwhelmingly essential, but they on their own cannot guarantee this country will not be the subject of a terrorist attack. I do however believe that they will give to our law enforcement and intelligence agencies contemporary and necessary weapons to strengthen their defence of our way of life and our right as individual citizens to be free as far as possible from terrorist intimidation and terrorist attack.

Statements like the PM's are, however, not really so exceptional any more. Since the September 11 attacks on the US, this type of case for significant legislative reform--albeit one that presumably does not adversely affect our 'way of life'--has been made both in the US and in our 'homeland' again and again.

What are such calls for exceptional measures, after all, compared to the 'state of emergency' officially declared by the US...

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