ROGER KIMBALL: There’ll Always Be an England—But Will It Be Free?
Sitting here in London, I wonder what Ross Parker and Hughie Charles would think if they could join me for a pint. I suspect that the authors of the famous 1939 song “There’ll Always Be An England” would be puzzled, not to say alarmed, over some recent developments in this green and pleasant land.
“There’ll always be an England,” these songsters wrote, “and England shall be free/if England means as much to you/as England means to me.”
But the question is, does it? Does England mean as much to the ruling establishment as it once did? The words “free” and “freedom” are repeated several times in “There’ll Always Be An England.” That’s the theme, the hope, the conviction: that Britain would triumph because of its native love of freedom.
How do things look now? Let me introduce you to two recent developments that would have astonished Messrs. Parker and Charles—police tracking of “non-crime hate incidents” and a so-called “banter ban” that is on the threshold of becoming the law of the land.
Related: UK ‘Speed Cameras’ Now Look Inside the car.
The camera is the latest in ‘spot camera’ technology from German [that’s perfect – Ed] manufacturer Jenoptik Traffic Solutions.
Doubling as a red-light camera, the new technology detects motorists for more than just speeding.
These cameras will snap motorists who aren’t wearing a seatbelt and motorists using a mobile phone at the wheel.
Unlike traditional cameras, it doesn’t require road markings, the cameras operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It uses infrared low-light technology which allows images to be captured via still photos and video recordings. This eliminates the need for a camera flash, even at night and in bad weather conditions.
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