Warning Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing ; Ame Stella Rimington Is Hardly One of the 'Usual Suspects'. She Is No Soft-Minded Liberal. She Is No Soap-Box Agitator. She Is a Pillar of the Establishment. She Is Someone Who Until Recently Oversaw the Protection of State Secrets. She Was Head of Mi5. She Is Not Someone, Then, Who Is Naturally Inclined to the Glare of Public Debate.

Western Morning News, The › February 19, 2009

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Summary

Ame Stella Rimington is hardly one of the "usual suspects". She is no soft-minded liberal. She is no soap-box agitator. She is a pillar of the Establishment. She is someone who until recently oversaw the protection of state secrets. She was head of MI5. She is not someone, then, who is naturally inclined to the glare of public debate.

Yet that is where she has chosen to place herself now. She warns the Government is manipulating public anxieties over terrorism to impose ever more prohibitive and restrictive laws. More than this, New Labour's fixation with surveillance risks turning Britain into a police state.

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Extract

Warning Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing ; Ame Stella Rimington Is Hardly One of the 'Usual Suspects'. She Is No Soft-Minded Liberal. She Is No Soap-Box Agitator. She Is a Pillar of the Establishment. She Is Someone Who Until Recently Oversaw the Protection of State Secrets. She Was Head of Mi5. She Is Not Someone, Then, Who Is Naturally Inclined to the Glare of Public Debate.

How loud should this set the alarm bells ringing?

This is more than a wake-up call to those people who, to date, have been reluctant to believe the incremental rise of the surveillance and the police state in Britain could be a possibility. It is - whether Dame Stella intends it as...

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