Ian Kerr and Stephen Whittamore.
It's interesting to note that the media is taking a far greater interest in the exploits of Ian Kerr, a private investigator who sold information on individuals and their political views to construction companies as part of what was almost certainly a blacklist, than they did in the somewhat similar case of Stephen Whittamore. Both were selling information on, the difference was that Kerr dealt in workers while Whittamore dealt with whoever newspaper journalists wanted him to, and that also meant gaining access to state databases, which it appears that Kerr did not.
Also worth noting has been the rather tepid response of the government itself. This couldn't possibly be because of the 40 or more companies, a good percentage of them conduct much of their business with the government via the private finance initiative, could it? Technically, this means that the state itself has been excluding workers on no more information that hearsay, something which it only otherwise practices when it comes the British National Party, and even then only in the police and the prison service, which is at least somewhat defensible if still troubling. In any event, Henry Porter as usual nails it.
Also worth noting has been the rather tepid response of the government itself. This couldn't possibly be because of the 40 or more companies, a good percentage of them conduct much of their business with the government via the private finance initiative, could it? Technically, this means that the state itself has been excluding workers on no more information that hearsay, something which it only otherwise practices when it comes the British National Party, and even then only in the police and the prison service, which is at least somewhat defensible if still troubling. In any event, Henry Porter as usual nails it.
Labels: civil liberties, databases, Ian Kerr, politics, Stephen Whittamore
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