Terror and the War on Dissent Freedom of Expression in the Age of Al
Located within wider debates about ‘security versus liberty’ in our post 9/11 world, the book analyses the new landscape of UK counter terrorism powers and offences and focuses upon the deleterious consequences of the so-called ‘war on terror’ on freedom
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Ian Cram
Terror and the War on Dissent Freedom of Expression in the Age of Al-Qaeda
Prof. Ian Cram University of Leeds School of Law Leeds, LS2 9JT United Kingdom [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-00636-4 e-ISBN 978-3-642-00637-1 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-00637-1 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009926013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publica-tion or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Viola-tions are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protec-tive laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: WMX Design GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
‘‘. . . in life we make progress by conflict and in mental life by argument and disputation.’’ Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian (2005, Basic Books, New York) p. 20
The origins of this book may be traced back to debates in the UK Parliament in 2005 about the glorification and indirect incitement of terrorism. At the time, the legislation struck me as a rather desperate and poorly thought-through gesture on the part of the Blair Government to win over public opinion in its so called ‘war on terror’ against Islamic fundamentalism. What follows below are some more considered thoughts about what I believe to be a broader assault on dissenting forms of political expression. It is my argument that the state’s closing down of channels of political dissent detailed in a number of the chapters of this monograph, while hardly unprecedented in our history, impacts adversely on our polity’s claim to be a robust liberal democracy. The vital task, I suggest, is to revitalize the constitutional capacity for dissent. We need thus to be sceptical about the claims of governments that the criminalization of pro-Al Qaeda expression is essential for the safeguarding of our democracy. Intelligent governments rooted more firmly in a secure tradition of liberal constitutionalism tolerate a very broad range of dissenting opinion if only the better to understand the nature of specific grievances. A number of factors came together to allow this book to be written. At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the grant of study leave by the School of Law, Leeds University, in the first half of 2008. The relief from teaching and marking
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