Public pronouncements by the Home Secretary have, in the past, been harbinger of dark tidings. Who can forget his ‘let us be very slow to condemn our troops‘ plea on the eve of video being released of British troops beating Iraqi teenagers? Or the bleak warning that we must ‘modify some our own freedoms in the short term‘ just before the airline ‘bomb’ ‘plot’ was unmasked?

And so it is with real trepidation that we read these words. You may need some clean underwear to hand.

Home Secretary John Reid has called for human rights laws to be rewritten to protect people against terrorism.

Just what might be on the horizon for Reid to spout this arrogant, arrant and terrifying kite-flying? He used strong language. He may even have used the word m*dernise at one point (I do apologise for reproducing it, its meaning in this context usually being its very reverse - that is, a filthy call for a return to barbarism).

Just what is it he knows? Is the cloud under which Reid will depart to be of the mushroom variety?

(Cheers to Mr E for the link)

Update: John Reid’s plans for scaling back the justice system have been revealed.