'Don't stop white people' (British Member of Parliament advises on anti-terror focus)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | August 2, 2005

[Stoat]

'Common sense' ... Widdecombe

'Don't stop white people'

ANTI-terror cops must not waste time searching white people as a “PR exercise”, Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said yesterday.

The former Home Office minister said an innocent Muslim or Asian man would not mind being stopped if treated politely.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There is a certain form of person who is a danger to society.

“In the times we are in, I think people understand that.

“It is common sense. It is not racial, it is not religions.”

Ian Johnston, the head of British Transport Police, has said his officers wouldn’t search “old white ladies”.

And Superintendent Ali Dizaei, of the National Black Police Association, agreed racial profiling was acceptable.

He told Today: “These are extraordinary times.”
 

 

 

[Stoat]

Ann Widdecombe MP

 

Ann was born on 4th October 1947 in Bath, Somerset. The daughter of James Murray Widdecombe CB/OBE and Mrs. Rita Widdecombe. Her father's occupation was Head of Naval Supplies & Transport, Ministry of Defence.

She was educated at the Royal Naval School Singapore, La Sainte Union Convent Bath, Birmingham University (BA Hons Latin) and Oxford University (BA Hons Politics, Philosophy and Economics) LMH MA 1976.

She worked in marketing at Unilever from 1973 to 1975 and was Senior Administrator at London University from 1975 to 1987.

From 1987 to date she has been member of Parliament for Maidstone which became Maidstone and The Weald in 1997

Political Biography
Secretary (1971) and Treasurer (1972) of The Oxford Union
Committee Member of Oxford University Conservative Association
Runnymeade District Councillor 1976-1978
Candidate for Burnley 1979, she halved Labour majority
Candidate for Plymouth Devonport 1983 against Dr. David Owen.
Elected Member of Parliament for Maidstone 1987.
1990 Appointed PPS to Tristan Garroll-Jones Minister at the Foreign Office
November 1990 appointed Under Secretary of State for Social Security in John Major's first administration where she specialised in pensions
Under Secretary of State Department of Employment 1993.
Minister of State Department of Employment 1994.
Minister of State Home Office 1995 with responsibility for prisons and immigration.
1997 Member of Standards and Privileges Committee of the House of Commons.
1998 Shadow Health Secretary.
1999 Shadow Home Secretary.
2001 Announced intention to retire from Shadow Front Bench at the same time as deciding not to stand for the Leadership of the Party.

Writing Career
2000 The Clematis Tree (rose to number 8 in the Times Best Seller List)
2002 An Act of Treachery published on 11th July
 

   Now engaged in writing third novel "The Idealists"

 

[Shalom Israel]

Thanks for that--I'm astonished in a good way! Some common sense from our cousins across the pond!

[Stoat]

If a member of Congress here in the USA were to say something like that, they would be prodecuted for Hate Crimes and their home would be instantly surrounded by a mob and burned to the ground.

Full Steam Ahead, Ann!

[ken5050]

Coudl we have a new Maggie in the making....The power vacuum in the Tory party is staggering..

[Stoat]

You're quite welcome and of course I agree. I wonder if there is any way that we can engineer a situation where she could simultaneously serve in Parliament as well as in Congress here in the USA? She would be a wonderful asset to both nations.

[Stoat]

I have no doubt that Lady Thatcher approves of her no-nonsense, common sense approach.

Did you notice also the statement from the Superintendent of the National Black Police Association in the article here? Breathtakingly refreshing in logic and common sense!

[ken5050]

I did, yes...

[Pukin Dog]

Aint it interesting how the prospect of getting one's ass blown up can have a positive impact on one's common sense.

I think they should still stop ugly people, though. I'll go first.

[Stoat]

Aint it interesting how the prospect of getting one's ass blown up can have a positive impact on one's common sense.
 

This applies to having your horse or cow blown up as well  :-) 

Sadly, I fear that it will take another major terror attack in the USA for people here to come to this simple, commonsense perspective.

[RightWhale]

Don't let Tancredo suggest that! He is getting enough attention from CAIR already.

[Unam Sanctam]

I don't mind the profiling in general, but there should be random searches of other ethnic groups -- there may be a Timothy McVeigh or a self-hating white kid like the American Taliban.

[pau1f0rd]

I wonder how hard it is to slip a bomb into an old white lady's bag...

[Stoat]

I don't mind the profiling in general, but there should be random searches of other ethnic groups -- there may be a Timothy McVeigh or a self-hating white kid like the American Taliban

I think that the MP's comments were made in the context of how a limited set of anti-terror resources can be used most effectively, given the existing known threats.  Although it's always possible for anyone to commit a terrorist act, the current threat is coming almost exclusively from a specific group of people, and so the greatest focus should be placed on addressing the threat that is most easily recognized and thwarted.  That being said, my great hope is that, as you say, all law enforcement personnel will keep their eyes open (as I'm sure they are) and if they do indeed see a sweating, nervous, jumpy and pale Swedish grandmother carrying a Koran who is wearing a heavy, bulky overcoat on a hot, sunny day with odd bulges in it and wires coming out of the pockets, that they will indeed stop her, using whatever means are appropriate to the situation.

[Stoat]

I wonder how hard it is to slip a bomb into an old white lady's bag...

Probably extremely difficult, as evidenced by:

1.     It doesn't seem to have been done up to this point (knock on wood)
2.     It seems to be far easier for them to recruit homicidal / suicidal idiots who will gleefully do it.
3.     The technology that they are using requires more space than what a lady's handbag typically provides in order to produce the effect that they are looking for.  Bulky backpacks, massive suicide bomb belts and automobiles filled with explosives appear to be the most popular mechanisms of delivery.  Let's hope that they never get hold of state of the art explosives, or the entire dynamic will change.
4.     I think that most ladies are quite protective of their handbags, and any nervous, sweaty, Koran-carrying Middle-Eastern-Looking nutjob who gets within ten feet of a lady's purse will most likely get beaten bloody with it,
5. Even if they were to get hold of small, lightweight, modern explosives and get it into a lady's handbag without her knowing, there's the problem of remote detonation which requires additional sophisticated equipment and weight, or a timer which doesn't allow them to detonate at a specific location.