Never mind the war on terror: the real enemy of this government is dissent

The government's plan to reduce the influx of undesirables into the UK sounded promising when it was announced. 'New criteria' are to be used to screen out people who don't share British values. Great, we thought. At last they're going to start booting out the 'honour' killers, thieves, terrorists and rapists. After all, we don't need them coming in; we have our own. Uh, no, actually: the only criterion mentioned would be if immigrants show they're unpatriotic by demonstrating against wars, for example those in Iraq or Afghanistan. As Chris Huhne of the Lib Dems rightly said, since when has demonstrating against war been proof of not loving your country? From there it is but a short, almost imperceptible step to the charge of 'challenging government authority', and there are quite a few countries that put people in prison for that. You can get a list of them from Amnesty International.