ABSTRACT
Liberal legal and political theorists often posit an antique and inescapable tension between the claims of security and those of liberty. Closed-circuit television surveillance has within the short space of two decades become a commonplace feature of the urban landscape of the United Kingdom. It is now easily forgotten that the first such cameras were installed in retail outlets in 1967, on the London Underground in 1975 and in a public setting for the first time in 1985. One curious dimension of this has been the embarrassment that the New Labour parent appears to feel towards its human rights child. There exist several noteworthy parallels between recent governmental responses to anti-social behaviour and those illiberal practices that have been mobilised in the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7 to defeat international terrorism. Rights have come to be thought of as getting in the way of and unduly constraining that which is deemed necessary to protect 'people' from disorderly activity.
