Subjects, not citizens

Freedom and security are two essentials that citizens look to the government to provide. Whatever balance is struck, someone will be unhappy. But negative attitudes to the state simply distort the debate.

How to strike the right balance between our privacy and our expectation that the state will protect us and facilitate our freedom is one of the most difficult challenges facing us all. I don't say this lightly. The recent argument about how we regulate official access to communications data was politically embarrassing for the government, serving as a lightning rod for broader public concern about protecting individual privacy, particularly in the light of the enormous growth in mobile phone and internet usage in recent years.

So, the UK view on freedom is "A gift from the government"? "negative attitudes to the state simply distort the debate"? They are subjects, not citizens, and I guess they realize it.

Posted on 2002-09-16 15:20:06.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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