Not easy

From the Prime Minister's statement of yesterday (here):

"When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed. When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm. We will show, by our spirit and dignity, and by our quiet but true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs. The purpose of terrorism is just that, it is to terrorise people, and we will not be terrorised."

The problem that some of us have with this kind of statement is that our country, our way of life, our values have already - at least arguably - been compromised by our Government's response to terrorism. The treatment of detainees in Belmarsh, the shortcutting of judicial procedures in our courts, the proposed law on religious hatred, the proposed introduction of ID cards - do these reflect British values or the British way of life?