And justice for all...

"Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, is to shelve proposals which critics said would have led to patients' confidential medical records being passed to third parties.

A spokesman for Mr Straw said the "strength of feeling" against the plans had persuaded him to rethink."

(David Barrett, Telegraph 7/3/09)

Sanity triumphs over the totalitarian madness that is the emerging ID State.

"The proposals will be dropped entirely from the Coroners and Justice Bill, and a new attempt will be made to reach a consensus on introducing a scaled-back version at an unspecified stage in the future.

"He has looked at it and he now wants to withdraw the clauses. We have asked Cabinet colleagues to agree to this," said Mr Straw's spokesman.

"Jack recognised the strength of feeling and he recognised that the clause was drafted in a way that was too wide, and so needed to be looked at again.

"He understood that this issue had touched a nerve for a lot of people, and he understood why.""

(David Barrett, Telegraph 7/3/09)

More than 30 groups wrote to the Minister for (in)justice to voice their concerns that the Government could now release 'almost limitless' amounts of information. Of course, we must remain vigilant.

Phil Booth, Director of the No2ID campaign, said: "This is a huge victory for the massive public backlash there has been over this. This one spot of rot has been scooped out, but we need a wholesale clearance of the Government's approach to personal data." (David Barrett, Telegraph 7/3/09)

Elsewhere in the news, Jaqui Smith was ambushed at the high-profile launch of her perpetrators of domestic violence register. Of course, I (and others) feel that violence in any form is unacceptable (unlike the 1 in 5 the Mori Poll suggested think it acceptable for a Boyfriend/husband to strike their girlfriend/wife for wearing revealing clothes or nagging them (London Paper 9/3/09)) but I have to agree with the protester when they say that the register is a gimmick and doesn't solve the problem. It may have some benefits but they are so minimal and negligable on their own.

Justice requires vigilance, not surveilance.