Visas to leave the country?

Governments the world over are dishonest. They routinely lie to the public. And as long as the public is stupid enough to take it, the government will keep dishing it out. An example at the local level is how politicians will grant themselves raises, will expand their budgets, will go on junkets, will create endless agencies and meddle in areas where few people think they should be meddling.

But, when the time comes to pay for these ventures, and the funds are not there, the politicians will go to the public for approval on new taxes. But the new taxes are NEVER for the pay rises, the junkets, and the endless agencies. They can’t get those passed. So those are paid for out of the general budget. When the money runs out the politicians tell people they will cut back spending on fire services and police protection—unless, of course, the public grants them the extra taxes. Of course there is plenty of money for fire and public safety all along. There just isn’t plenty for fire protection, public safety, pay rises, junkets and endless agencies. Politicians, facing budgetary restraints first and foremost threaten cuts in the most popular programs not the least popular. And voters stupidly go along with it most the time.

Politicians are masters of deceit. Consider the “War on Terror” as an example at the national level. People were upset, and rightfully so, about the attack on 9/11, which is now a distant memory. Politicians talk about “stopping terrorism” and then pass measures that control you. The “war on terror” does little to terrorists; witness how Osama bin Laden has been free since the attacks. And 95% of the measures that are passed to control terrorism do nothing to terrorists but strip citizens of their freedoms.

One of the worst offenders, in this sort of deceitful assault on national freedom, has come for Britain’s authoritarian Labour Party government, first under the religious nutcase, Tony Blair, and now under Gordon Brown.

Now, England is tell everyone in the U.K., that if they plan to leave the country, by any means and for any purpose, that they must file with the government a detailed listing of their itinerary. Even people who sail the English Channel are required to file exactly where they will be, and when or face stiff penalties from the increasingly Soviet-style bureaucrats who run England. It has been noted that even those who wish to “swim the English Channel” are required to have their papers in order before stepping into the water or they face criminal prosecution.

This flagrant assault on the travel rights of British subjects will be phased in over the next few years. And anyone caught leaving without this paperwork being filed is open to prosecution. In essence, this amounts to an exit visa on the British public.

Where I stayed in England it was routine for people to hop the Channel to shop in France or Belgium. I considered taking the ferry once just to eat in the restaurant on board as a small excursion. (Please note that was only ferries where the French, not the English, were doing the cooking.) All this, under government proposals, will require one to file all the details of the trip: including your credit card numbers, with the British Travel Gestapo. Most importantly, note that if border officials can now prevent people from leaving the country, and these forms have to be filed before leaving, this gives the government the option to prevent people from exiting.

That will be coming. Of course, it will be justified by something horrendous. But in practice it will be used to control the average person. If you are behind in your property taxes then travel permits to France will be denied. Didn't pay your TV license? Well, then don't expect to attend that football match in Berlin. This measure will not be used to "secure the borders" at all. It will be used to force the British public to comply with the increasingly onerous rules of the Soviet-style regime that Labour has imposed.

I should remind readers that the reason for the explosion of “identity theft” in America is directly the result of measures meant to control “illegals” working in the country. By forcing Americans to divulge such critical information, in countless places (bank, work, apartment hunting, job applications) each citizen ends up giving away their identity by force of law. Identity theft is a problem created by government. In the UK this is even worse since the inept British bureaucrats have admitted that have lost the details of millions of citizens several times over. The more people forms you fill out with your private details the more likely it is that your identity will be stolen.

The London Telegraph claims: “Britain is not the only country to require such information from travel operators. The USA also demands the same information be supplied from passengers wishing to visit America.” Apparently the author of that claim doesn’t recognize the big difference. England is forcing British citizens to file detailed reports if they wish to leave the country. This is not the same thing. Asking visitors to a country to tell you who they are is quite different than controlling the travel plans of your own citizens.

The president of the Automobile Association, Edmund King, said: “Travellers will need to ensure that their passports are up to date and that details are input accurately if they don’t want to end up in a dark room being grilled by border officials.” True. And the very idea that they can happen to citizens spending a weekend in France tells you just how far down the road toward state fascism that England has gone under the Labour Party’s rule.

Of course an unnamed Border Agency spokesman—that is a lowlife liar paid to deceive the public—said this “allows us to secure the UK’s borders….” “Securing the borders” was sold to the public to protect against terrorists coming into the country, not to control the movement of British citizens wishing to leave the country.

As for America, just wait. England is harbinger of things to come to the United States unless people really fight back. I should also note that when you hear some conservative whining about “securing the borders” this is precisely the sort of controls that you should expect that will be imposed on you. Governments really aren’t looking to control people outside their borders. They are looking for ways to shackle their own citizens. And don’t expect Obama to be much different than Bush.

By the way, if I were English and had any options at all, the next trip out of England would be my last. Just don't go back. The same is increasingly applying to the United States as well.