I am all in favour of guarding against the terrorist threat. However, one has to call to mind the reason why we are being attacked. We are being attacked because the terrorists are afraid of freedom. They are afraid of our freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom for women and the free exchange of ideas. What our government is doing by restricting our freedoms in order to ostensibly 'fight terror' is to give the terrorists the victory they want. You cannot defend freedom by restricting it.
The following article is from the BBC and are the thoughts of Dame Stella Rimington. Well spoken Dame Stella.
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Dame Stella Rimington, 73, said people in Britain felt as if they were living "under a police state" because of the fear being spread by ministers.
In an interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and published in the Daily Telegraph, she also attacks the approach taken by the United States.
"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said.
"MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."
She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people.
Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.
Dame Stella's comments come as a study is published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law.
'Take stock'
Former Irish president Mary Robinson, the president of the ICJ said: "Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.
"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."
The Conservatives said the government's push to extend the detention time limit for terror suspects was the kind of measure condemned by the report.
Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said: "The Conservative Party is committed to ensuring that security measures are proportionate and adhere to the rule of law."
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'."
Dame Stella became the first female head of MI5 in 1992.
