Freedom and security.

Bill Clinton said in a speech yesterday in Edinburgh to business leaders about that the current controversy over the issue of the role of the National Security Agency (NSA) - that freedom and security were not incompatible but mutually 'reinforcing'. The touchstone point is accountability to the courts. This however pre-supposes that the courts will be sufficiently robust in their interrogation for the need of this surveillance. Given that no-one wants to be on the wrong side of the argument if a security problem arises, there is little motivation for robustness. This following 9/11 is particularly true. However we in this country are having to come to terms with the fact that GCHQ is watching us very closely according to the whisleblower Edward Snowden. The spooks argue that if you haven't done anything wrong, there is nothing to worry about. If though they have the ability to store all this data and information for years (I'm too old to worry) then they can trawl back over stuff that may be innocent, but could potentially 'frame' you in some way or other. The spooks cannot be trusted to act within the law.