Peter Bowing

The Investigatory Powers Act

Peter Bowing


The Investigatory Powers Act has passed into law, “with barely a whimper,” according to The Guardian (19-Nov-2016). In the words of Edward Snowden: “The UK has just legalised the most extreme surveillance in the history of western democracy. It goes further than many autocracies.”

Broadly speaking, the Act enables state snoopers to bulk collect our electronic data, to have ready access to all metadata (who is speaking to whom and when) and to hack into our devices.

Most distressing is the low level of interest among the liberal left, with Labour in Parliament nodding in favour and merely requesting a few minor tweaks here and there. Outside Parliament, campaigning against the Act was lacklustre, with GHCQ itself apparently surprised at the ease with which it managed to enlarge its powers. Equally disappointing has been the low level of interest among left-wing activists in encrypting their communications by using such services as Signal, Tutanota and Tor.

With the Trump victory in the US and Britain's post-Brexit lurch to the right, we may come to regret our indifference.

Peter Bowing

Shutting out the snoopers

IN 1968, AT A SECRET LOCATION in Soho, Conrad Dixon, ex-military, ex-public school, was interviewed stark naked for a secret position within the Metropolitan Police. Once appointed, he outdid the Stasi by setting up a police unit, SDS (Special Demonstration Squad), which embedded for months  – or even years  – tens, if not hundreds, of police spies in British civic organisations, such as London Greenpeace. These spies, armed with false identities and backgrounds, befriended and formed relationships with activists; and in some cases even had children with them. Their purpose was to monitor and disrupt the work of these organisations, and where possible prosecute and imprison activists.

Peter Bowing
Shutting out the snoopers
Peter Bowing

Defend Free Movement - No to UKIPised Labour

It was not those areas with the highest concentrations of non-British EU citizens (e.g. London, Manchester, Bristol) which voted for Brexit. The existence of strong multicultural communities did not lead to Brexit support. On the contrary, it was where xenophobic and racist propaganda was accepted and believed that a majority plumped for Brexit.

Peter Bowing
Peter Bowing

Letter: Chomsky revisited

I challenge the idea that Chomsky’s linguistic discoveries, whatever the institutional circumstances in which they emerged, contradict historical materialism. Large parts of nature, for instance stones, plants and the human body itself, remain mostly fixed over long periods of time and therefore have qualities which cannot be grasped by Marxian social concepts.

Peter Bowing
Letter: Chomsky revisited
Peter Bowing

Fight right-wing populism! Fight Brexit!

If a majority in a referendum had voted for capital punishment, would Labour then support it? Of course not. Labour policy is made by its members, not by national referenda.

Peter Bowing
Peter Beresford and Mark Harrison

The MAD alliance: An alternative paradigm for mental health

This is the international Mad Studies movement. Originating in Canada, and signalled by the publication of Mad Matters in 2013, it has already led to an explosion of activity in the UK and overseas which is grassroots led, by mental health service user activists, writers, researchers and educators.

Peter Beresford and Mark Harrison
The MAD alliance: An alternative paradigm for mental health