ABSTRACT
The period following the events of September 2001 marked a major watershed in the relationship between the British state and individuals living within its borders. In what can be described as a ‘frenzied’ approach to law-making, the last United Kingdom (UK) government, led by the Labour Party, enacted five major pieces of counter-terrorism legislation between 2000 and 2008. In the context of the heightened security environment, the legislation sought to enhance the collective security of the nation by promoting the freedoms of the so-called law-abiding majority at the expense of the civil liberties of the ‘suspect’ minority (Pantazis and Pemberton 2011a).
