When some of us complained that the Terrorism Act 2000 was so loosely drafted that it could be deployedagainst almost anyone seeking political change, the government told us we were being hysterical. Since then,peaceful protesters all over Britain have been arrested as potential terrorists. At the Fairford airforcebase, for example, the police used the act to terrorise the peace campaigners protesting against the Iraqwar.(7) The protesters were repeatedly stopped and searched: often one team of police would let someone goafter a full body search, and another one would immediately seize her and repeat the whole procedure (thishappened to one protester 11 times in one day)(8). On March 22nd last year, the police seized three coachescarrying people to a peaceful demonstration at Fairford, held them for two hours, confiscated theirpossessions, then sealed off the entire motorway network between Gloucestershire and London, and escorted themback to the capital. The police and the Home Secretary knew full well that these people were not terrorists.They also knew that the law allowed them to be treated as if they were.