Former Swine Of The Week and Home Secretary Charles Clarke was in the news for a couple of reasons today, both good or bad depending on how you look at them. First he spoke at a press conference at the US Department of Justice having concluded a big international meeting, good for him. Second he is being accused of a slight climb down on his new anti terror legislation, not so good for him.
According to BBCN24 he's amended the rules pertaining to the 'glorification' of terrorism.' It'll still be illegal, it's just before it was illegal whether intentional or negligent whereas now the police will have to be able to prove intent.
It's tempting for me to point out here that this concession occurred just a few days after the launch of my new blog, http://iamaterrorist.blog.co.uk . I'm sure we can all imagine Mr Clarke being entirely at ease with his policies until coincidently coming across my blog. The lazy attempt at satirical humour, coupled with some half assed Paint graphics, get to him in an instant and he rushes from the room suddenly realising he's made a terrible mistake.
Am I aiming a little high here? Clearly, but I'm concerned that I'm not only one. What stuck in my head today was the mention of some I-told-you-so vibes coming from various corners. The thing is, is Charles Clarke stupid or incompetent enough to form and announce a policy knowing full well it will prove to be shown unworkable?
The answer is no and yes: No he's not at all stupid, and yes, in my opinion, this is exactly what he's doing. As I see it he wants to get certain things passed that might prove difficult on their own so he exaggerates them and adds a few other controversial bits.
Then, as the legislation goes through the process of being passed, or not, he can drop bits and reign others in until it's just what he started with. The only difference is that he can now claim to have listened to and compromised with critics. Like I said, I'm not the only one aiming high today.
