Down in the street little eddies of wind were whirling dust and torn paper into spirals, and though the sun was shining and the sky a harsh blue, there seemed to be no colour in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere. The black moustachioed face gazed down from every commanding corner. There was one on the house-front immediately opposite. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption said, while the dark eyes looked deep into Winston's own.

Written in 1949, George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’ focuses on the life of Winston Smith who lived in a totalitarian state which had absolute control over every action and thought of its people through propaganda, secrecy, constant surveillance, and harsh punishment. Its vision of terror and control lurks as a nightmarish vision at the back of my brain and maybe many others. I have been blessed to live my life in the peaceful United Kingdom where the rule of law trumps the power of the tyrant.

Nevertheless, we are confronted today with a serious challenge which is difficult to duck; how do we control the actions of a small minority who want to bring about a trail of death and destruction in our otherwise peaceful democratic society? How do we gather intelligence and act upon it without impinging on the rights of citizens to have their private affairs kept private? Vast amounts of data ping about in the ether everyday through mobile phone calls, texts and e mails. The internet and dark web carry easily available information on how to manufacture bombs and create havoc through IT malware. Where is the balance to be struck between public safety and personal freedom?

Governments have grappled with this dilemma over the past few decades. Terrorism legislation has been enacted and then repealed after judges found it to be unlawful. GHCQ has developed sophisticated mechanisms for intercepting on line traffic which drills down to that element which might betray an evil intention to cause harm. This was then exposed by Edward Snowden and a fierce argument ensued about whether this was a fundamental breach of the right of individual privacy. Now we have the ability for most on line messages to be encrypted so no one can understand what is being communicated. Add to that is the enjoining of communities to alert the authorities of the actions of people who have been radicalised. Is this a return to a form of secret policing?

What is clear to me is that the right of the public to go about their ordinary everyday lives in safety means that some curtailing of individual rights needs to be sacrificed. I for one am happy if GCHQ has the ability to monitor my phone in case I am trying to hatch some dastardly plot. I also feel it is proportionate to request that anyone who has suspicions of a terrorist plot should make that intelligence known to the authorities. Our freedoms are precious but public safety even more so.

We cannot and should not punish people for their beliefs and attitudes but when these translate into malevolent actions we should do our utmost to prevent their actions and to remove them from our society. Unlike Theresa May, I do not believe we need a change in Human Rights laws as our judges have been very sensible in drawing an appropriate line between individual rights and those of society at large, and long may they be allowed to do so.