UK Government plans new powers to label dissenting movements as 'subversion'

Post by jpfromlondon » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 10:12 AM UTC

legsrunny wrote: post #206

aranw wrote: post #70

There is probably a legitimate basis for some powers against actual foreign intelligence operations. But the proposals in the article defining "subversion" to include environmental activism, independence movements, or criticism of UK policy show how quickly these things expand beyond their original scope. The Terrorism Act was meant to exclude domestic activists but two decades later it has been used against protest…

It will never cease being funny to me how Eurocrats/Anglocrats pout their chests, proclaim proudly how "free" and "democratic" they are, and then proceed to implement a police state and surveillance regime which the DDR could only dream of. Sure you have "nothing to hide", and "intentions are good". Was that also true for every decade in European history? Will that also be true in 10 years? In 20 years?

Post by benbojangles » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 11:33 AM UTC

Post by piltdownman » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 12:30 PM UTC

LorenPechtel wrote: post #185

piltdownman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Ireland opposition to the ongoing Genocide in Palestine is a wholly secular and humanitarian concern, divorced entirely from any correlation with race, religion, ethos or creed - despite agitators attempts to label it to the contrary. We are, however, unique in Western Europe in this regard - but it is not a mono-culture and the reasons are very contextual. While Germany is not an advocate of genocide in any sense…

You mean the Ireland that wanted to redefine "genocide" so they could call the war genocide? Thus the government that knew it was not genocide. Sorry, but war in urban areas is extremely ugly. That does not make it genocide. As for apartheid South Africa--look at the reality. Their revolution was jumping from the frying pan to the fire. Just because the new oppressors were of the same skin color doesn't make them not…

Post by teddyh » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 5:35 PM UTC

js8 wrote: post #40

sph wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” History, just like everything else in Nature, is cyclical.

It's a protofascist phrase, part of the problems we have is people adopting this worldview, that life has to be hard in order to create "good men". It's used to defend rightwing social darwinism. If anything, history goes the other way around. Fascism ("strong men") comes from good times, as a reaction. They create authoritarianism and discrimination ("bad times"), which slowly liberalizes and equalizes (gives rise t…

Post by pbiggar » Tue, Dec 02, 2025, 11:10 PM UTC

nailer wrote: post #194

pbiggar wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell or not, but are you aware that the US has deported/arrested thousands of people for their social media posts?

These are very different situations. In the US it is typically that someone on a visa has supported a terrorist group or advocated for violence. In the UK it is rather that a British citizen is visited by the police because someone else has stated they find a piece of content offensive.