'Snooper's Charter,' To Be Rushed Through?

Lord Carlile says the Investigatory Powers Bill should be rushed to prevent UK atrocities.

17:29 16 November 2015

Following Paris terror attacks, Lord Carlile said that Theresa May’s Snooper’s Charter should be rushed through Parliament to prevent future terrorist attacks in the UK.

 

The bill, branded a Snooper’s Charter by critics, would allow police and security services to access the browsing history of everyone in the country.

 

Lord Carlile said: "This is a subject that's been discussed repeatedly and at great length. The home secretary presented a draft bill which would not become law possibly until the 31st of December 2016.

 

"My view is that we don't have time to wait. That what is in the bill is for the most part perfectly reasonable, it could pass through parliament within the next three to four weeks if the government decided that should happen, and I believe that the necessary powers need to be on the statute book as quickly as that."

 

Home Secretary Theresa May presented the draft bill earlier this month to the House of Commons.

 

Labour Home Secretary Andy Burnham, said last week that the judicial oversight of the bill was not enough to prevent ministers to invade the privacy of innocent citizens.

 

In a letter to the home secretary, he wrote: "I have now had the opportunity to study your proposals in detail and have taken advice from the shadow justice secretary.

 

"This has given rise to concerns that the safeguards you are proposing are not as strong as it appeared when they were presented to the Commons."

 

"[You] created the impression that both the home secretary and a senior judge would review the evidence. Indeed, you may recall that I asked you in the House about what would happen if there were a difference of opinion between the two.

 

"On closer inspection of the wording of the bill, it would seem that it does not deliver the strong safeguard that you appeared to be accepting."