| Crowds watch as new Queen glides into town Shipping line Cunard's new 92,400-tonne cruise liner Queen Elizabeth - which succeeds the QE2 - arrives in its home port of Southampton. bbc.co.uk |
Global Warning Improving our muddled system of terrorism alerts will reduce confusion and costs. nytimes.com |
North East 'most vulnerable' economy The North East of England has been ranked as one of the most vulnerable areas in England to the economic downturn. bbc.co.uk |
New Scots powers being outlined Plans to give Scotland new powers to control a third of its budget are being unveiled by the UK government. bbc.co.uk |
Letters: Spy planes and second-class citizens It was with great interest that I read your report (Foreign fighters in the shadows, 25 November) on how spy planes have been patrolling British skies trying to pick up voice signatures of British citizens suspected of travelling to Afghanistan to fight against Nato forces, after Yorkshire and Birmingham accents were detected by RAF spy planes in Helmand.If this is true, it raises a number of serious questions. First, how often have these flights been taking place and under what authority? Second, which areas have these spy planes been operating over? One can only presume that they would be targeting Muslim majority areas in Yorkshire and Birmingham. If so, it makes a mockery of the apology offered by the West Midlands chief constable, Chris Simms, after a secret police operation to place thousands of Muslims in Birmingham under secret camera surveillance was uncovered (Report, 1 October). If spy planes are indeed also operating over Muslim areas in Britain, it once again highlights how little the government really cares about the dignity of its Muslim citizens.Third, how is the information gathered from such surveillance being used by the authorities? Is it being used as "secret evidence" against terror suspects brought before draconian Special Immigration Appeals Commission courts, where they are unable to see or challenge the allegations against them? One of the justifications often put forward in support of the use of "secret evidence" is that to disclose it to the accused would be to compromise the intelligence services and their methods and strategies. If this is indeed one of those methods, it is understandable why the government is fighting to keep it secret. For were it to become public knowledge, it would further underline the fact that Muslims in Britain are being deliberately targeted by the authorities as a suspect community and treated as second-class citizens.Fahad AnsariCageprisonersSurveillanceTerrorism policyIslamReligionHuman rightsGlobal terrorismUK security and terrorismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |