Bugging row reignites ’Big Brother’ debate
Category: News and Politics

..> Bugging row reignites 'Big Brother' debate
11 hours ago

LONDON (AFP) — A row over the bugging of a MP has reignited debate about how far the country has gone towards becoming a "Big Brother" surveillance state.

The September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States and the July 2005 bombings in London have prompted the authorities to ramp up security measures to unprecedented levels.

But this has led to concerns about how much the authorities know and whether the information is safe in their hands -- particularly in light of a string of recent blunders.

In November it emerged that a government department had lost the personal details of 25 million people -- nearly half the population.

And on Sunday it was revealed that MP Sadiq Khan was bugged by anti-terror police when he visited Babar Ahmad in prison, one of his constituents and an Islamist terror suspect wanted in the United States.

Promising a swift inquiry into the Khan affair, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday surveillance was "necessary to defend our security, preserve our freedom and, in some cases, to save lives."

Britain already has 4.2 million CCTV cameras, more per head than any other country on Earth at one for every 14 people.

The government wants to bring in biometric identity cards and expand the DNA database, already the largest in the world, with 5.2 percent of the population -- around four million people -- on file.

Since 2004, everyone arrested in England and Wales for all but the most minor offences -- regardless of guilt -- has been logged on the database.

There are even talking CCTV cameras telling off people engaging in anti-social behaviour including dropping litter.

In November 2006, information commissioner Richard Thomas said Britain had "sleep-walked" into a surveillance society due to the increased use of technology to monitor activities such as movements or spending habits.

Bugging MPs has by convention been barred since 1966 under the "Wilson Doctrine", named after then-prime minister Harold Wilson.

Khan, a human rights lawyer and a friend of Ahmad, visited him in jail as he battles extradition on terror charges.

Their conversation was bugged by anti-terror police and MPs have now raised concerns about whether their constituents can discuss sensitive issues with them in confidence.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said he was aware of the conversations, though was not aware they were being recorded. Claim and counter-claim about who knew what and when have flown across the parliamentary chamber.

In parliament on Wednesday, Nick Clegg, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, accused Brown of creating a "surveillance state."

"It is this government that has turned the British public into the most spied upon on the planet."

Brown replied: "People are reassured in this country by the presence of CCTV.

"We are taking steps to protect the liberties of citizens."

He later announced that a major review found it "should be possible" to use intercepted evidence in trials.

Britain is one of few countries to bar the use of evidence from intercepted phone-calls, emails, letters and faxes as part of a prosecution case in court.

Civil liberties campaign group Liberty said: "A British public concerned about excessive surveillance might be comforted if judges authorised the warrants and the material put to more effective use.

"Allowing phone-tap evidence is logical and preferable to anti-terror measures like excessive pre-charge detention limits which give a propaganda victory to extremists," it added.

Michael Parker, from the No2ID campaign group against ID cards and the "database state", said state control had now got "really got out of hand."

"This country seems pre-disposed towards a surveillance culture," he told AFP, saying countless civil servants were employed to grab and store information about people "in the hope it will make things better."

"Britain has the highest use of CCTV in Europe yet it has the most lax, ill-defined regulations on how that footage is recorded and stored."

admin on February 08 2008 09:25:32 ·