4 April 2012
Spend money on restoring a free society, not snooping on citizensJohn Breckenridge wrote:
... Of course the police and intelligence services want more powers to snoop and pry. It goes with the territory. Ministers, on the other hand, should stand back and appreciate that this is neither necessary nor proportionate. However, it is a brave Minister who will do so when a serpentine Permanent Under Secretary whispers in their ear the words: "But if there were to be a terrorist incident on your watch, Minister, and you hadn't given the services the powers they requested, you might be forced to resign." ...
John Gould wrote:
Colette Douglas Home is right on the money when she writes that only the benignity of our Government will separate our lot from that of East Germans under the Stasi ("We would be fools not to fight this snoops' charter", The Herald, April 3). Such benignity can never be guaranteed.
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Dr Alexander S Waugh wrote:
... In fact, Mr Clegg has made it clear that the LibDems have always been, and will continue to be, opposed to a centralised database that allows the Government to monitor our internet activity at will.
What is being proposed is simply an update of current regulations regarding criminal investigations, to take account of new technologies which didn't exist when the original regulations were made.
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