There ia strong and articulate article from Henry Porter, examining 2006 in view of what he calls "late period Blair", where the politicisation of the civil service and strengthening of the executive have moved forward on all fronts. People are curbed in what they can say, how they can say it, on how they can act, and on how they can spend, due to increased taxes.
And still the nation slept, believing that in some way this frenzy of law-making was benevolent and protective rather than a menace to the rule of law. A year has gone past, but can anyone honestly say that they feel more secure after all this activity? Of course not, because the effect of late-period Blair legislation has been to extend the powers of the executive and of the police - who have got everything they wanted from him - while diminishing the individual and his rights.
There are some disturbing developments that I was unaware of, such that bailiffs are now able to break into private houese to collect civil debts. This government has traduced and removed an ever larger swathe of civil liberties, most of whom affect the poor, not the rich:
No more than one in 10 MPs could have told you how, using the Courts Act together with the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, the government swept away a 400-year-old common law, which guaranteed that an Englishman's home was his castle and that no bailiff could break in to collect civil debts.
The Liberal Democrats talk of a general act to sweep away these impositions. The Tories are now examining the need for a Bill of Rights. Perhaps even some Labour MPs may stand up to defend our freedoms, especially as Brown has proved as assiduous as Blair in attempting to cement the executive's freedom from law and scrutiny.