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8/3/2019 150. Telegraph Article - David Highton comments
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8/3/2019 150. Telegraph Article - David Highton comments
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This escalation in Britain's growing surveillance state follows an outcry
about the way councils are using powers originally designed to combat
terrorism and organised crime to spy on residents. In one case, a family
was followed by council staff for almost three weeks after being wrongly
accused of breaking rules on school catchment areas.
It also emerged last month that around 1,400 security guards, car park
attendants and town hall staff have been given police-style powers
including the right to issue on-the-spot fines for littering, cycling on the
pavement and other offences.
Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, described the recruitment of
children as "downright sinister".
He said: "We are deeply troubled by these developments – they are
straight out of the Stasi copybook. There is a combination of ever-stricter
rules and ever more Draconian attempts to control people.
"Councils are using anti-terrorist legislation for the tiniest of things, like
the people who put out their bins early, and the threats of fines and
prosecutions combine to constitute fleecing the people the councils are
meant to be serving."
The increase in surveillance comes at a time when an estimated 169
councils have dropped weekly rubbish collections.
Some local authorities are refusing to collect bins which are placed too
far from the kerb, while others are issuing £100 fines to people who fail
to comply with recycling rules.
Critics have claimed that councils have stopped prosecuting people for
flytipping in favour of pursuing easy targets such as fining people for
dropping bits of food and cigarette butts.
In April, Hull council officials fined a young mother £75 for dropping a
piece of sausage roll while trying to feed her four-year-old daughter.
Sarah Davies, 20, refused to pay and the matter when to magistrates
court where it was dismissed.
Doretta Cocks, founder of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection,
said the use of children by councils was "shocking".
She said: "What sort of world are we bringing them up in? I think it's
dreadful for neighbour to spy upon neighbour in that way."
The Daily Telegraph contacted more than 240 councils across England
and Wales to ask if they had recruited environmental volunteers.
Of those, 36 or just under one in six, said they had. They included Luton,
with 600 volunteers, the highest of any council; Southwark, south London
(400) Birmingham (370) Blaenau Gwent (300) and Congleton in
Cheshire (300).
Among the "environmental crimes" which the snoopers are asked to
report, which vary from council to council, are failure to recycle rubbish,
vandalism, graffiti, dog fouling, fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles.
Some councils merely ask recruits to keep an eye out for problems, while
others are sent out on patrols. Several of the councils which do not yet
use volunteers said they were considering doing so in future.
Many of the town halls said they did not encourage their volunteers to
confront offenders or collect evidence, for their own safety.
But Bromley Council in Kent offers up to £500 for information that leads
to a conviction.
Crawley Borough Council in West Sussex said its 150 Streetcare
Champions were asked to "report on individuals if known". Bolton Council
said its Green Inspectors must "note any relevant information such as
registration numbers" if they see criminal activity.Others, including Fareham in Hampshire and Waltham Forest in east
London encourage their volunteers to take photographs of rubbish to
help investigations.
Liz Henthorn, 66, a retired nurse who is one of 120 "Street Hawk"
volunteers in Enfield, north London, openly describes herself as a
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"curtain twitcher" but insists she is not snooping on anyone.
She said: "If there is a problem with fly-tipping, general bad behaviour,
graffiti etcetera then I ring the Street Hawk person and when I do it is
cleared. Enfield has become a lot cleaner because of us curtain twitchers
having a look around.
"If you can you report an individual but nobody is going to give their
name and address. If you know where that person lives you can say you
know who it is but other than that you don't."
A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents
town halls across the country, insisted: "Environment volunteers are
people who care passionately about their local area and want to protect
it from vandals, graffitists and fly tippers.
"These residents are not snoopers. They will help councils cut crime and
make places cleaner, greener and safer."
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “In any civilised
society the community will engage with the police but it would be plain
wrong for young children to be recruited and trained for reward. People
want to see the police and other appropriate agencies on our streets
catching and deterring offenders.”
Councillor Sue Emment, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for
environment and street services, said: “Ealing Council works withparticipating schools so Junior Streetwatchers can learn how to help our
local environment, take pride in their community and have a sense of
civic responsibility.
“Organisations like the TaxPayers’ Alliance are fast becoming parodies of
themselves and ought to find out about Council schemes before making
comments. We feel it is sad that the valuable time these young people
are spending on improving the community should be criticised in any
way.”
A spokesman for Harlow Council said: “We need to encourage more
people to care for their community. If we can encourage people at a
young age to do this then they will grow up to respect the environment.
Our Street Champions, which is an entirely voluntary scheme naturally,has the backing and support of parents for children to take part in the
scheme. The scheme is highly regarded.
“The scheme isn’t just about them reporting environmental problems,
they also take part in projects to help them learn new skills and in a wider
context, about citizenship.”
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Garry09/11/2008 10:24 AM
Stalin and Hitler had similar things running to get children used to the idea of betraying their parents and this illegal action by Councils is the forerunner of thedirty aspect of the European Soviet Union's plans to control the people.
The answer still lies with us, but not for much longer, whilst our Votes stil l count for something, we must use our Votes tactically and erase those who are betraying usfrom Parliament and our Councils.
If they are pro-EU then they are opposed to democracy and therefore, enemies of the people.
I urge everyone to change their voting habits before the real misery of the EU isinflicted upon us.
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Frank09/10/2008 01:53 PM
"As for the Junior Streetwatchers - what on earth is wrong with encouragingyoungsters to care for their environment and actually do something to help make itbetter?"
Two words: Mission Creep
I wonder how soon the UK will create the "Hero Of The Commonwealth" medal,
awarded to children who denounce their parents for political incorrectness. FelixDzerzhinski is laughing his arse off in that hot place down under.
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raven09/09/2008 06:53 PM
Lots of reference to Hitler, the Stasi, etc. Anyone recall what it took to get rid of them? Here's a clue- it was not elections. The Government has no reason to fear the people, therefore no incentive to change. Governments by their nature will
ALWAYS seek to accrue more power. They can no more resist it than a child canresist a sweet.
Think of this also- Once the Corps of "snoopers" is established, the mission theyare assigned can be expanded at any time.
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John Hancock09/09/2008 08:59 AM
Here in the former Colonies we have an old document... let me see.. I'm sure youhave a copy. It was sent to King George III a while back. Anyway, just Google"Declaration of Independence" and it should come up. The best part is the firstsentence.
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Brian09/09/2008 07:47 AM
STASI
*cough
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Andrew09/08/2008 06:46 PM
Wait, this makes no sense. Orwell said that this kind of thing would be glorified inthe Times. Why's it in the Telegraph?
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Ian Thorpe09/08/2008 04:32 PM
The powers that be spend all there time demonising the youth of today, telling usthat there hooligans,thugs etc. and that we need the police to protect us from them.Then they say that these youths are fine upstanding citizens and give them thepower to police us!
Unbelievable.
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David09/08/2008 01:04 PM
Look on the bright side - the problem of the 2012 Opening ceremony is nowsolved. 10000 of these characters parading and marching and flag waving all inmatching uniforms - spectacular or what....
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vinny09/08/2008 01:00 PM
1984 is starting to seem like prophecy, reminded me right away of the passagePaul of Southampton
posted on September 06, 2008
at 12:02 PM
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JIllian D09/08/2008 08:31 AM
Everyone has the solution at their fingertips. Which is the next time you vote,especially at council elections, Vote UKIP.
It is the only party that intends to, and will, redress all of this nonsense.
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Captain Chips09/08/2008 08:29 AM
I've found a lis t of which councils are emplying these child snoopers,and howmany,on a blog.Many of them are Tory councils.(Why does leafy Congleton require300 of them?!?)
Go to http://thejournal.parker-josep... and see Sep 6th entry 'After the Stasi comesthe Hitler Youth Movement.'
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Aghast09/08/2008 08:29 AM
I note someone mentioning Common Purpose, does anyone know if theinformation from Brian Gerrish is true?, because if it is, then we have fifthcolumnists in our midst, which then explains why everything is going the way it is-down the drain. And then it looks like the main political parties are all implicated, isthis why they join together and wage war against the BNP?, because they fear thetruth that the BNP expose when they get into the council halls?. As a nation weneed a very quick rethink about just who we vote for, thats if the voting systemhasnt been corrupted too. How did OUR generation let the sacrifices of our grandfathers go in vain?
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Robert Hendry09/07/2008 04:34 PM
The fascist Liberals who run this country may feel comfortable at the moment as
they religiously adhere to their destructive ideology and can make up by laws at willsuch as this. snooping on your fellow citizen is unacceptable at any time, but touse children simply show the level of mental illness these decision makers have.
Soemday, and I hope in the near future when the people of this country wake up wecan see a revolution that reclaims our country from these idiotic sad misfits who
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are amazingly running the show.
If you are ever handed a fine such as this simply do not pay. If enough people didthis their system would buckle. They are only good at controlling you and stealingyour money. They simply hate you and everything you stand for with a passion.
KEL09/07/2008 12:40 PM
It is the duty of everyone, adult or child, to report to the relevant authorities anycriminal or anti-social behaviour and what could be more anti-social than the fly-tipping and dog-fouling that is spoiling our countryside and our streets.Prosecutions for these offences are virtually non-existent because of the difficultyof obtaining evidence. What needs to be controlled is the response of theauthorities, who seem too will ing to impose arbitrary fines for trivial offencescommitted by "soft targets" and doing little to curb the serious ones.
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David Walker 09/07/2008 12:34 PM
You know, I thought we'd won the Cold War to prevent authoritarianism becomingentrenched as an everyday principle in our government.
And the war against the Nazis before that.
Unfortunately, it seems I was mistaken.
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Mrs Margaret Burton09/07/2008 12:34 PM
We have lived in Spain for 17 years and our rubbish is removed every day insummer ,and every day, except Sunday, the rest of the year.In our area the streetsare cleaned regularly, as is th beach.
We have a 2 bedroom,2 bathroom pent house flat overlooking the beach and our Urbano ( rates ) is 254 euros, about 200 pounds, annually. If Spain can do it, whycan't the UK?
As a youngster I was proud to be English, sadly at 76 when i see how Britishtourists behave I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen, and I shall Certainly never return to my homeland.
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Bill C09/07/2008 12:33 PM
Not a day goes passed without further evidence of snooping and coersion fromlocal authorities (with the full backing of HMG).
When are we going to have a serious debate about freedom and liberty in thiscountry? Have the Britsh given up, as we move ever closer to the old Soviet modelof government? I fear the Conservatives are no better; come on Cameron, try beingbrave for a change - New Labour and Gordie McBean are already a spent-force. Itis only a matter of time before the chop comes.
We are run by a bunch of unaccountable morons hell-bent on pushing further finesand taxes for the most minor indiscretions. Just stop interfering where you are not
welcome.
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Ralph Smith09/07/2008 12:27 PM
It's taken over fifty years to get there but Churchill, speaking at Walthamstow in1945 said -
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"No Socialist Government conducting the entire life and industry of the countrycould afford to allow free, sharp, or violently-worded expressions of publicdiscontent. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt veryhumanely directed in the first instance."
And thus it has come to pass!!!
Peter Padley09/07/2008 12:26 PM
In the Second World War they called them Gautleiters and in the Cold War theywere informers or traitors. It is time the population of the United Kingdom woke upto what manner of government we have in the UK. It is underhand and devious toan extreme. It will take years to undo the damage they have caused and wheneventually pushed into opposition they will be crowing on the government of theday as they attempt to get this once proud country on the road again. Askingchildren to do their dirty work for them, with the promise of money, is an utter disgrace.
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bil09/07/2008 10:42 AM
Simon
on September 06, 2008
at 08:36 AM
please post your list. it's very illuminating I'm sure.
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Susan09/07/2008 09:32 AM
They got our local school kidslogging all cars parked in our village, and how longthey were there. They then used the info to bring in parking restrictions for shoppers and shopkeepers.
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Michael
09/07/2008 09:30 AM
It will go pear-shaped when one of youths (under 10) gets attacked or worst killed.I hope councils are checking their insurance policies. Let the criminals out of prison and put the law abiding in. Labour don�t care if you're bin 1mm out of line.Who are the nasty party now?
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Jacob09/07/2008 09:28 AM
The legacy of Great Britain (that small Island) is that of a pirate kingdom who hadmade its money for the past 900 years through extortion, slavery, terror, plundering.colonialism and global robbery.
Are you people really so surprised as to the treatment you are receiving by your local authorities? Read your history books.
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John Bull09/07/2008 09:25 AM
Hitler Youth - without the uniforms.
The childish "snooping" of today leads inevitably to the brain-washed recruitmentto identify Concentration-Camp Style "List Populators".
This cannot ALL be down to the EU even though they would encourage it - no, thismentality comes from those in our own Home Office who have long held andcherished ambitions to control and rule in true Orwellian fashion.
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Time for heads to roll - before it's too late.
Dimitri Dononovic09/07/2008 09:24 AM
Alittle trick, learned from Comrade Stalin? It looks as if the light is going out inEnglish speaking world. Why did the "free world" die out so fast?
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