Sir: Matthew d’Ancona writes as though the current government proposals
regarding the locking up of suspects without trial are its first. But he knows full well that they are not and many concessions have been wrung painfully out of an executive whose instincts are unpleasantly authoritarian. Then he has the gall to tell those of us opposed to this horrid piece of legislation that we are looking at the issue through the ‘wrong end of the telescope’ and that we can no longer see the ‘big picture’ that was so clearly visible post 9/11. Well, my first instincts after 9/11 were that a government of a brave, liberal democracy, confident of its values, should set an example by tearing down the gates at the end of Downing Street and challenging those that would destroy us to do their worst.
At the risk of adding to d’Ancona’s clichés, it is the nature of democracy that it must fight its enemies with one hand tied behind its back. That may lead to frustration and even loss of life and injury from time to time. But it is an approach that will shorten the war and preserve the nature of our society. The current policies will achieve nothing other than the polar opposite of these objectives.
James Cooper
Kingston Blount, Oxfordshire
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