Four programmes with Duncan Campbell
Q: What happens to Britain in a time of crisis or war?
A: The country will be run under emergency laws.
Q: What are the emergency laws?
A: That's for the government of the day to decide.
That is the official position; the facts are somewhat different. The emergency laws are already written, but they're not available to the public. So Parliament and the people have no chance to discuss the legislation now, before a crisis looms. And when there is an emergency, there may not be time for discussion. Duncan Campbell reveals what's in the draft Emergency Powers Bill - hospitals, roads, fuel and conscripted civilian labour would be handed over to US military forces, for instance. He asks why Britain, unlike most of its NATO allies, keeps the plans confidential when it's the British people who'll be most affected.
BBC Scotland
FEATURE: page 13
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