Terrorism Bollocks

On the way home last night, I got ‘stop and search’ed in the entrance hall of Cambridge station under the auspices of the Terrorism Act 2000. It wasn’t for any reason, just part of the random shite during ‘heightened’ alerts.

Now, in general I don’t really have a problem with the stop-and-search stuff. I got used to it a long time ago, when I was in the throes of heavy insomnia, and would regularly get stopped and searched at 4am when I was out for a walk. I understand the principles of it, and the Bentham-esque supposed panopticism, where the theory goes that if you are under constant scrutiny, you never know when They really are watching you. It’s the same motive that underlies all the CCTV crap, and many other bits of our current legal surveillance framework.

What I do object to is that when I get stop-and-searched, the search is so cursory as to be utterly fucking pointless. Yesterday’s one was a case in point.

All they did was look in my backpack. That was it. I didn’t have to turn on the laptop that was in there, to ‘prove’ that it wasn’t an explosive device cunningly disguised. I didn’t have to open the bottle of water there, to prove it was water, and not some colourless liquid explosive. They didn’t even open the pockets on the bag – at least one of which was heavy with portable hard-drive, USB stick, headphone cables, metal pen, and some other stuff that had all the hallmarks of a small explosive device. (electronics, wires, small compact box, blah blah)

They didn’t check me at all. I could’ve had weapons on me, small gas canisters (those little gas capsules for CO2, for example) or been wired to chuff and back – hell, my entire belly area could’ve been padding and C4. But none of it was checked.

And let’s be honest, if I were some numpty bent on self-immolation with a C4 waistcoat or whatever, would a stop-and-search have any effect? Would it bollocks. If I were that dedicated/committed to blowing myself to kingdom come, and taking as many people as possible with me, (which I must emphasise to the hard-of-thinking I am most certainly not) then fuck it, the rail station entrance hall is as good a place as any. And ooh look, the chance to take out three or four policemen as well. Bonus.

Would stop-and-search have been of any use in the current wave of so-called ‘attacks’. Would it bollocks. Well, unless they’ve a method for using stop-and-search against oncoming burning vehicles, or ones being driven at speed towards the station.

And when all’s said and done, that’s what I object to – the fact that the entire thing is just staged shit to make people ‘feel’ more secure. It’s got no practical use whatsoever. Maybe iit would’ve had some use f I’d started sweating, or praying, or some other massive giveaway. I doubt it though.