TONY Blair says there are more than 300 fanatics in Britain conspiring to do us all great harm.

Lord Stevens, the recently retired Metropolitan Police Commissioner, has said there are 200 al Qaida fanatics in this country, most personally trained by Osama Bin Laden himself.

At the same time, the Home Secretary tells us the people who have been locked up in Bellmarsh prison because they were judged to be dangerous won't be subject to any form of restrictions when they are released. This suggests they are harmless and should never have been imprisoned in the first place.

What a fiasco!

This whole problem has been caused by the recently-introduced European Union human rights legislation, which takes precedence over British law and places the selfish wants of certain individuals above the collective rights of society in general.

Its introduction has proved to be divisive and undemocratic. The present impasse is alarming, in that the Government is now incapable of formulating an effective policy to protect the population from the deadly intentions of the type of ruthless individuals who carried out the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Well established British laws, which evolved over centuries, have been rendered useless by the introduction of this alien legislation. It should be rejected, revoked and returned to sender.

Then the Government will once again have the authority to take control and fulfil its most fundamental responsibility... the defence of the British people.

Douglas Unwin,

Kingswood Grove,

Acomb,

York.

Updated: 09:37 Wednesday, March 09, 2005