Last night Big Brother Watch teamed up with The Centre for Policy Studies to host an event discussing the accumulation of entry powers by the state.
Research released by Big Brother Watch in December last year revealed that there are nearly 15,000 officers in local councils nationwide who can enter private property without requiring a warrant or police officer escort. You can read the full report Barging In by clicking here. This report built upon the 2006 Centre for Policy Studies pamphlet Crossing the Threshold by Harry Snook, which detailed the number of ways the State can enter a private home as of right.
To debate the power of entry at last night's event - chaired by Jill Kirby, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies - were:
• Dominic Grieve QC MP – Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
• Henry Porter – Novelist and Columnist
• Harry Snook – Author, Crossing the Threshold
• Alex Deane – Director, Big Brother Watch
We will be posting videos of each of the speeches from the event throughout the day and I would urge you to watch all four speakers. Each clip offers tremendous insights into the speaker's expertise and serve as a fantastic analysis of the erosion of liberty and how the current government has intruded into the public and private sphere.
Perhaps the most important development from the event, however, was Dominic Grieve's commitment to two key policies for a Conservative Government:
- The first was his announcement that he would like to see it compulsory for any state inspector to have to apply for a warrant from a JP before exercising power of entry.
- The second was his desire to introduce a 'Repeal Act' to get rid of some of the ridiculous and inappropriate legislation that permits state inspectors to enter our homes.
These two policy commitments from the Shadow Minister for Justice are absolutely critical if a Conservative Government is to restrict the power of the state over our private space. Big Brother Watch intends to keep a close eye on the progression of these commitments and will be ready to hold Dominic Grieve to account should the Tories win the next election.
The videos of the speeches will be posted shortly.
By Dylan Sharpe