In A Pickle Over Surveillance

Over at Pickled Politics they've had a pop at the people responsible for the erosion of our liberties:

All those people who cheered on the neoconservatives in the US as they used and abused surveillance powers, as stood by New Labour while they talked up ID cards - they are also to blame. The fact that it has become illegal to even take a picture of a police constable is not just the fault of New Labour, it’s also the fault of the apologists on the left and right who went along with that agenda.

Not just Labour, then? Well, things certainly haven't been helped by a supine opposition and a compliant media, but they don't make the legislation - the government does. This sounds like special pleading. The government is squarely to blame: it didn't have to create and pass any of this legislation; it chose to do so.

And it all started BEFORE 9/11, with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) when terrorism was not on the agenda. Labour didn't need any encouragement from anyone else.