Chief constable warns UK could turn into ‘police state’

The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police has warned that the UK is exposed to a huge risk of becoming a police state.

Sir Peter Fahy told the Guardian that the policies being adopted by the British government can create serious risks as the establishment may gradually be morphed into a police state.

He also warned that the new counter-terrorism measures announced by the government last week may blur the lines between free speech and extremism. He said that if the issue of fighting extremism is totally left to the security system, there is the danger of drifting to a police state.

Fahy, who himself holds a number of security positions, said in the interview “There is a danger of us being turned into a thought police”.

The new measures adopted by the British government include plans to restrict speakers at universities, especially those that are deemed extremist by officials. It also authorizes people to relocate people suspected of terror offences.

Rights activists in the UK reject the measures and say that the government has resorted to rushed legislation just to save face. Civil liberties groups have branded the new rules as a “chilling recipe for injustice,” and have accused the government of attacking the civil society.