political and economic elites using democratic institutions to slouch from the United Kingdom to Air Strip One. A major party actually talking about licensing journalists (if Labour is that bad, how fucked up are the Tories?) and the BBC writing about compelling people to give DNA samples certainly doesn't detract from that image.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2011/sep/27/ivan-lewis-leveson-inquiry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3088920.stm

QE as a tyrant? Seriously? She doesn't have that dead look in her eyes like Stalin or Hitler, or even James I. As a 17 year old princess she enlisted as a truck mechanic. That is a BFD and totally cool.

"Public safety" and "national security" are the default excuses for scoundrels to justify anything. The Romans used the "fight them there instead of fighting them here" mantra just like Bush and every other imperialist. I'm sure your ancestors heard the same about the Irish, India, half of Africa etc. The German people were told the Nurmberg laws were for "public safety" after being bombarded with propaganda.