Soixante-neuf: "only in exceptional circumstances"
No, I haven't taken up sex blogging, this is more on the 42 days detention without trial.
Via Rachel and thence Kate, I found the poll that everyone is taking about and no-one is providing a reference to.
Currently, the police may hold suspected terrorists for up to 28 days before having to charge or release them. The Government wishes to extend this time limit in exceptional circumstances to 42 days.Do you support or oppose extending the time limit to 42 days?
Agree 69%; oppose 24%; dunno 7%
How "exceptional" are those circumstances?
Did all 69% of respondents agree how "exceptional" they are?
But Kate has tracked down another survey by Yougov: the results are rather different.
Oh Aye?
1 day ago
4 comments:
Arrgh! You learn not to ask a question like this in first semester. It seems like people are using the knowledge they have to rig the results. Come to think of it, I think this is exactly what is happening.
To be fair, the government does claim that 42 days will only be used in exceptional circumstances, and the Liberty poll was even more leading.
Some pollsters, competing with estate agents, used car salesmen and politicians in the credibility stakes.
Come to think of it, this is actually an interesting case. It comes down to the old question of what you actually want to know. What you get is an answer to the question whether people think X should be allowed under exceptional circumstances however they define "exceptional". Which may be an interesting piece of information.
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