Trust no one, Report everything, Suspect everyone

You will probably by now have been subjected to the huge number of paranoid ravings on the radio tv and now as part of a poster campaign (http://www.met.police.uk/campaigns/campaign_ct_2008.htm) about terrorism and how we must all spy on our neighbours and report them no mater what since we aren't to know what is suspect and what is not.

Is it just me or is this all going a bit Stalinist Russia with everyone encouraged to inform on everyone else and the constant threat of a battering ram smashing down your door at 2 in the morning where upon you are dragged away for "thought crime" and are never seen again.

I know it's not anywhere near that bad but it does seem like a step in that direction.

It also seems like this wealth of information about how Mr Smith at number 43 has bought a larger tub of fertiliser than he should need for his garden or how Mr Patel at the shops occasionally goes to the train station and takes pictures of trains is all going to be completely meaningless not to mention their plans to tap all the phones and copy all the data travelling by the internet just in case Grandma Jones is actually some sort of evil sleeper agent passing information encoded in cake recipes to her handler known only as "Aunt Marge". The last thing the security services need is more information, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack but deciding the best way to find the needle is to make the haystack even bigger till it covers most of Lancashire.

I know a lot of this has nothing to do with terrorism and is more about the various agencies seeing an opportunity for more power and control (much like the TSA in America who after 11/9 greatly expanded their powers to irritate and delay as well as their ability to nick stuff off wealthy travellers).

I guess it's another of those civil liberties we will have to get used to not having. Still some people are already having fun with the posters http://www.flickr.com/photos/illegalphotos/.