DISTORT/CONFUSE DISABLE THE TRUTH REALITY DRAINED DISTORT/CONFUSE STABILITY THREATENED RESISTANCE RESTRAINED DISTORT/CONFUSE RUINED AND DESPERATE WHERE NOTHING IS CLEAR DISTORT/CONFUSE MANIPULATION - PROPAGATE FEAR DISTORT/CONFUSE     In the UK, the government, using the bombings and failed bombings on the London underground and busses to create moral panic, is attempting to implement new draconian legislation in the form of 'The Terrorism Bill 2005-6'. If made law, the terrorism act will substantially extend the range and capacity of legal statute in the UK, criminalising many oponents of certain hegemonic norms and values of Western society as instritutionalised by UK law and culture. The speed at which the government is trying to formalise this legislation has caused a great deal of confusion surrounding the scope and focus of the proposed Act and has raised great concern, not only amoungst minority ethnic groups in the Uk, but also amoungst many political activists who will find themselves falling within reach of the Bill 'by default'. Some may argue that the extension of 'The Prevention Of Terrorism Act' will put in place legal statute that will potentially affect not only 'terrorists' and 'activists' but also thousands of 'ordinary' people from all areas of society. The distortion of the true reality of the danger from Islamic fundamentalism and the threat to the British 'way of life' that the government has happily encouraged the UK population to 'buy into' belies the true reasoning behind the proposed legislation. The confusion that the government has produced, not only in the public sphere but also in parliamentary circles, with some of its recommendations is extensive and substantial. The desire of the UK government to 'railroad' this legislation through the parliamentary process raises questions on it's actual focus and justification. The proposed legislation and parliamentary discussion surrounding it masks the reality of its true reach and potential by placing an explicit and implicit focus on terrorist atrocities perpetrated in the United States, Spain and the Uk. While there can be no justification for acts of violence carried out in the name of ANY religion, the government has manipulated and manufactured as much political leverage from these attacks as possible, to the point where ethnic mistrust in the UK has reached an all-time high....a point not lost on politicians as they jocky for personal and party power at westminster. The government has framed the legislation and orchestrated the media frenzy surrounding the Bill to the extent where it is almost being promoted and portrayed as the UK's last line of defence against the 'evil axis of Islamic fundamentalism' and Islam itself. The governments stance and actions taken in the manipulation of public unease and apprehension in relation to this legislation are unquestionably racist and totalitarian at best but what is the true potential of the legislation and who will it entangle in its deliberately non-specific and wide-ranging web of legal restrictions? While the original proposal to legalise the incarceration of individuals who 'fall foul' of the Terrorism Act for up to 90 days has been defeated by a backbench rebellion, of which much has been made in the uk press, the furore surrounding this parliamentary struggle over time of containment and the threat that it posed to the governments retention of power, has masked the fact that the House Of Commons agreed upon a doubling of the time suspects could be held under existing legislation from 14 to 28 days and the extension of the statute to encompass a wider section of society than covered previously. It is within this extension of 'anti-terrorism' law that the government is most likely to extend its already autocratic and oppressive hold on the individuals who fail to believe the lies peddled by those in power and whose value systems are in direct conflict with UK legislation and the 'common sense' politics of a largely unenlightened UK public who have been force-fed political and ideological distortions and confusion throughout their lifetime without stopping to question the reality of their and others existence. The Terror Bill, if it is passed through the House Of Lords (which looks likely), will impact on all individuals involved in direct political action and, in particular, those involved with the animal rights movement. Before, where it was a crime to carry out specific acts in defiance of UK law, the new legislation would make it illegal to 'encourage' acts of terrorism, to 'disseminate' terrorist publications as well as extending the time that an individual can be held in custody without charge as already stated. The implication for animal rights activists is clear. While the government may have introduced this Bill under the guise of fighting the dangerous 'other', the religious fundamentalist, the threat of Al Qaeda, they kept one eye on issues closer to home. Under the Terror Bill 2005-6, it will become illegal not only to undertake direct action against those who take part in the systematic abuse of nonhuman animals but it will also be a crime to prepare, publish or disseminate any material that could be construed as contravening the wide ranging and non-specific scope of the proposed statute. The Bill extends the charge of 'incitement' to commit an offence to 'encouragement' to commit and offence. It will become a crime when an individual or group publish a statement which can be read as a direct or indirect encouragement or inducement to commit acts of 'terror', for this read 'direct action', or when a glorification of 'terrorist acts' (resistance) is produced that can be argued to inspire emulation! The term 'intent' has been left out of the bill. Is this an oversight by the government or or a direct ploy to expand the scope of the Act? By omitting the term 'intent', individuals can easily fall within the range of the Bill through ignorance or through personal commentary. This extends not only to direct activists but to public commentators and academics. What are we witnessing...the movement of a government focussed on the protection of the nation from 'the outsider' and 'the dangerous other' or a government set on the totalitarian control of those who oppose the systematic injustices visited on human and nonhuman animals by both the UK government and the multinational companies that pull the strings? It is also interesting to note that the 'politically neutral' Metropolitan Police lobbied the government to extend their right to hold individuals for 90 days without charge. While the government was defeated in the Commons, it shows their willingness to follow the lead of the police. How close is the UK to operating under the constant, all-seeing eye of the police state panopticism? The evidence is there for all to see. Non-violent political groups that stand in opposition to the government and state their case will become criminalised over night. What kind of democracy will exist in the UK when the right to attack the status quo and the entrenched norms that have become unacceptable to large portions of the UK public, either by spoken word or by publishing 'unacceptable' statements, leaves the individual not only open to prosecution but to the possibility of being held in police custody for four weeks without charge? The animal rights movement is a disparate collection of individuals united in their condemnation of the way in which nonhuman animals are abused and murdered for human profit. To criminalise those who fight for the rights of animals shows how far this government will go to protect the profits of the animal industries that it sanctions and supports in the UK. Direct action on behalf of the nonhuman animal is to be applauded. In our opinion, those who take the risks that forward the movement are revolutionaries fighting a just cause and, who will, in the future, be regarded as individuals who stood up and made a difference. They are The Animal Liberation Front. Now, paradoxically, the ALF will be expanded exponentially through the criminalising of the right to free speech in the condemnation of those who abuse nonhuman animals on the farms, in the laboratories and in the abbatoirs of the UK. If we are to be criminalised under the guise of the protection of the United Kingdom and our 'christian' heritage, then why not live up to the governments view of animal rights activists. Reject their democracy, stand and fight, disseminate the information they want to restrict, speak out against the abuses visited on the nonhuman animal, become the criminals they have made it clear that they view us to be by the very production and targetting of the Terror Bill. If we are to be hung, is it not better 'to be hung as a sheep than a lamb'? SUPPORT THE STRUGGLE...SUPPORT THE ALF ......RUIN