Fife police 'breaching human rights' - Socialist

Glenrothes & Levenmouth SSP press release - Monday 02 May 2005

Scottish Socialist Party candidate for Glenrothes Constituency, Morag Balfour, has condemned police requests for personal details of visitors to Fife during the G8 summit as a "disingenuous breach of privacy". Ms Balfour was speaking after it was revealed that hotels, bed and breakfasts, camping and caravan sites were being asked to provide details of bookings coinciding with the summit between 6-8th July.

"This is a shocking development. First we get fortress Gleneagles to protect political leaders responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, now Big Brother invades Fife. If the stated reasons were legitimate, the police would only need to know the number of visitors, not the names and addresses of every casual visitor who may only be interested in a quiet few days of golf. They would perhaps also be taking into account that T in the Park commences immediately after the summit."

The measures are unlikely to contribute to public order either, claims Ms Balfour, the SSP's Peace and Disarmament spokesperson.

"The G8 summit will draw together peaceful, non-violent campaigners from across the world. That is something that should be celebrated, rather than greeted with arbitrary snooping and scaremongering. If one or two troublemakers did turn up, it is unlikely they would book into hotels under their own names anyway. This exercise could turn out to be a massive waste of much needed police resources."

Ms Balfour also highlighted the possible impact on tourism from lost bookings:
"The message this gives out is that if you are visiting Fife in early July then you are a possible troublemaker. Hardly the traditional Fife welcome. The argument that you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide is not an excuse."

Ms Balfour advised proprietors of local businesses to offer limited assistance to the police by revealing only how many visitors they were expecting.

"There are vital public safety issues at stake, but asking for detailed information is an invasion of privacy. It is a possible breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The best option for proprietors is to reveal the expected number of visitors, nothing more."
*END*

Notes to journalists:
1. The request was contained in a form letter, dated 23rd February 2005, from Supt. Ian Hutton to owners of hotels, bed and breakfasts, camping and caravan sites, etc.

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