today

In TV interviews, Abu Bakr has said he was bewildered by his arrest and believes Britain is now a police state for Islam as terrorism laws are specifically designed to target Muslims. He has also said he believes last week's operation was designed to take attention away from the cash-for-honours scandal in which Prime Minister Tony Blair and New Labour are accused of offering honours to people who donate money to the party.

But the prime minister's official spokesman said anyone arrested in a police state would not have been freed and allowed to appear on television. He said: "It is a gross caricature of the political process in this country."

IMO: Any established UK citizen should be able to see that the arrest was not the symptom of an established police state. It may be that some police arrests are self-serving in any country.