Mr and Mrs Tyler have just returned from the official launch of Big Brother Watch. As you probably know, this is a new campaign set up by the same people that brought you the TaxPayers' Alliance. It aims to fight intrusions on the privacy and liberties of ordinary Britons, and speaking as someone who has been stopped and searched three times under s44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act (eg see here), Tyler says it's come not a moment too soon.
In truth, Big Brother Watch has been up a running for a few months already, under its energetic Director Alex Deane. But tonight was the official kick-off, featuring speeches from David Davis (yes, that David Davis), and national treasure Tony Benn (still going strong at 85).
Tyler first heard Benn speak back in 1976, at the height of the sterling crisis. He was the senior cabinet minister who wanted us to turn our back on the IMF and become fortress Britain. He held his audience spellbound, even though many of us were deeply hostile to his vision of a self-sufficent socialist workers' paradise.
This evening he showed he could still hold an audience, and he showed something else too: unlike almost every other politico you ever come across, he's apparently genuine interested in what you do, as opposed to reeling off an interminable list his own achievements. Highly disarming.
If you haven't already done so, take a look at the Big Brother Watch website. And do send off for a pack of free Big Brother Watch stickers for deployment against the creeping state intrusion into our lives.
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