This country just gets better and better. Latest example:

Harraj Mann from Hartlepool was pulled off a London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport on March 30. He was questioned under the Terrorism Act after it’s believed his choice of music made a taxi driver suspicious. Mann was able to play his own music through the cab’s stereo on the way to his flight, but it seems the driver did not approve.
[…]
It seems The Clash’s lyrics which include “War is declared and battle come down”, alarmed the cabbie who alerted police, while Led Zeppelin’s line about “The hammer of the gods will rive our ship to new lands, to fight the horde”, probably didn’t help either.

Of foreign origin? Not from round here? Singing along harmlessly to one of the most ubiquitous, commodified English pop songs around? (It’s even been used in a Bond film, for fuck’s sake). Then you’re a suspect!

The important point to remember here is that this time, it isn’t just the police and stupid laws at fault, but the dickhead cabbie. Even after taking into account my own loathing of taxis, it’s clear was the taxi driver who sparked off this whole stupid affair. The police were probably obliged (just like ambulance staff answering a 999 caller demanding they cure his headache, or airport security responding to someone joking about half a pound of heroin up her arse) to follow through with the enquiry no matter how much of an affront to common sense it is.

Although it is absolutely right and pertinent to tackle both draconian needless laws, and unfettered police power, it’s also important to bear in mind how much a system relies on fearful, suspicious and above all stupid people. Remember, <insert fascist regime of your choice> would never have survived without ordinary, craven, spineless civilians willing to inform on others, no matter how trivial the subject; people who, whether willing supporters of the regime or not (maybe they just don’t care), let it exploit their natural prejudices, and as a result conform to and support it - be they cab drivers, shop assistants, fellow plane passengers etc. The battle to maintain a free and democratic society will not be just a matter of targeting just at those at the top, but to those they rely on to keep the current political climate going.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 5th, 2006 at 16:38:19 and is filed under General.