Discord in UK Government in “War on Terror”?

The Guardian reports that the director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, put himself at odds with the home secretary and Downing Street last night by denying that Britain is caught up in a “war on terror” and calling for a “culture of legislative restraint” in passing laws to deal with terrorism. Sir Ken warned of the pernicious risk that a “fear-driven and inappropriate” response to the threat could lead Britain to abandon respect for fair trials and the due process of law. He acknowledged that the country faced a different and more dangerous threat than in the days of IRA terrorism and that it had “all the disturbing elements of a death cult psychology”. But he said: “It is critical that we understand that this new form of terrorism carries another more subtle, perhaps equally pernicious, risk. Because it might encourage a fear-driven and inappropriate response. By that I mean it can tempt us to abandon our values. I think it important to understand that this is one of its primary purposes.” Sir Ken pointed to the rhetoric around the “war on terror” – which has been adopted by Tony Blair and ministers after being coined by George Bush – to illustrate the risks.

Click here for the entire story.  Note that this is very unlike the Bush administration, which for the most part has been uniform in defending extraordinary Executive powers in the “war on terror.”

KJ