Just when you thought Absurd Britannia couldn’t get any more absurd, there comes this news. I am not in favor of surveillance cameras in the first place, but if you’re going to have them at all, and they’re designed to fight against terrorism, then to cover them up in precisely the areas where terrorism is most likely to be being plotted is suicidally stupid.
“Plastic bags to be put over Birmingham ‘terror cameras,'” from the BBC, June 17 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Bags are to be put over scores of surveillance cameras in parts of Birmingham with large Muslim populations, after local objections.
Safer Birmingham Partnerships (SBP) said 216 cameras were put up including covert ones, mainly in the Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook districts.
The cameras were financed through a counter-terrorism fund, but the SBP said they would tackle all crime.
And even after this the local Councillor, a Muslim, is acting as if the authorities have to prove themselves to the Muslims, not that Muslims have to show themselves to be loyal citizens who reject jihad terrorism and Islamic supremacism:
Councillor Salma Yaqoob said people had lost faith in the authorities.
‘Sneaky handling’
The Respect Party councillor for Sparkbrook said: “In terms of reassurance it’s going to take a lot more than plastic bags.
“The residents have lost faith with the authorities for their sneaky handling of the way they went about this and will not be reassured until they have been told the locations of the hidden cameras too.”
SBP said 72 cameras had been placed covertly and would not be covered by the plastic bags….
The cameras were financed through the Association of Chief Police Officers’ (Acpo) Terrorism and Allied Matters (TAM)….