The Guardian
reports that Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve is to propose
amendments to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act so that it is
simpler for the police to conduct surveillance on those suspected of
non-terrorist offences. The article quotes Tory concerns that one
police officer recently spent thirteen-and-a-half hours filling out
paperwork in order to follow a burglar with three previous convictions.
According to The Guardian Mr Grieve wants the police to have automatic rights to:
- “Use covert video or listening devices in premises or vehicles.
- Watch premises to identify or arrest suspects.
- Conduct visual surveillance of public locations.
- Patrol, in uniform or plain clothes.
- Use thermal imaging and X-ray technology.
- Conduct surveillance using visible CCTV cameras.”
Earlier in the summer the outgoing chair of the Local Government Association, Sir Simon Milton, highlighted local authorities' use and misuse of surveillance powers.
So you see the Tory plan is not to stop spying on UK citizens, but to make it even easier to spy on UK citizens.
RIPA was designed to investigate and fight terrorism, not people who drop apple cores.
Items 2, 3 and 4 above should of course be part of a Police Officers normal duties, to be on the street, to be aware of what is going on around them and to be trained in the powers of recall. (all things that used to be taught at the Police College in Henden before it was closed down by this Government).
However the other items on that list are far more contentious. They are not about police awareness, they are about spying, spying on your own people.
Whilst we agree that there is far too much red tape and paperwork involved in modern policing, the single most important safeguard is still missing, any such requests for overt and most certainly covert surveillance should only be authorised by a judge, having been given evidence by the police to state why they wish to conduct such surveillance.
It is essential that in order to safeguard the rights of people of the UK, any such activity should be confined within the bounds of judicial oversight.
To make matters even worse, Sir Paul Kennedy, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, who is there to protect our interests?, has urged
councils to “make much more use” of new spying legislation which
allows them to access phone bills and call records of members of the public.
This is just another example of how our Ruling elite have forgotten why they are there. They have forgotten that they are there to serve us, not us them. They have forgotten that they are there to govern, not to rule.
Under a Tory government this will only get worse, not better.
Mr Grieve says nothing about getting rid of the ridiculous Police targets, he says nothing of removing the 3000+ new 'criminal' offences introduced by NuLab, he says nothing of rolling back any of the 126,000 draconian laws introduced over the past 10 years, or curbing the excesses of Local Authorities, he only speaks of using those laws designed to fight terrorism and making it easier to use them on you.
Yep, those libertarian Tories. They're really interested in your civil liberties, aren't they?
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