Bishop criticises use of fear to push through police reforms

From Ekklesia - 05/04/06

An Anglican Bishop has suggested a "state of fear and anxiety" after terrorist attacks is being used to push through major changes in the security services. The Bishop of Shrewsbury said that the fear of terrorism was being used to justify "all sorts of radical changes" in the police forces as well as in the law, but this is challenging long held freedoms. His comments came as he criticised plans to merge West Mercia Police with three neighbours. The Rt Revd Dr Alan Smith was speaking at St George's Church, Telford, in front of senior members of the legal and criminal justice system, reports the BBC.

He said: "One of the surprising and yet unmistakable features of our present age is fear." The bishop added: "Our grandparents lived through two world wars under threat of invasion. They lived at a time when there was no state pension or no National Health Service, and when to have cancer was an automatic death sentence. In comparison with them we enjoy unparalleled levels of security and support. And yet we live in a state of fear and anxiety."

West Mercia is an unwilling partner in a plan to merge it with West Midlands, Warwickshire and Staffordshire forces. The other three services are more keen on the plan put forward by Home Secretary Charles Clarke. The bishop went on to say: "I do not wish to trivialise the tragedy of the July bombings. If you lost a loved one in a terrorist attack it is the most awful and devastating experience. But we do need to keep this in perspective. In 2004 around 3300 people died in road accidents, just under 3,900 people died in accidents in the home and in 2005, 37 people died in terrorist incidents in London. Yet the fear of terrorism is being used to justify all sorts of radical changes in the police forces, in the law and it is also challenging some of our long held freedoms."