Lead story

May revives snoopers’ charter

by Daphne Liddle

THERESA MAY, the Home Secretary, last Monday announced the Government’s new Anti-Terrorism and Security Bill, which will give police powers to force internet firms to hand over details that could help identify suspected terrorists and paedophiles.

The Bill will compel internet service providers (ISPs) to keep records of information linking Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to individual users.

This means that information about every internet communication — who has contacted who, when and for how long — will be available to police and intelligence services.

The law, currently going through Parliament, would require ISPs to record people’s internet activity, including social media use, online browsing and online gaming and keep the information for 12 months.

May claims this will protect Britain from terrorist attacks and protect paedophiles and people who are “trolled” — sent abusive messages via social networking sights.

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NHS workers second week of action

MEMBERS of ten major health unions in England and the occupied north of Ireland: Unite, Unison, GMN, RCN and others, last Monday began a second week of action on pay with a four-hour strike on Monday morning.

The workers are furious at being offered a one per cent, below inflation pay rise of just one per cent that will only be paid to some workers.

Health workers are among the lowest paid in England and many depend on benefits and food banks to feed their families, even though they do some of the hardest and most important jobs in the country.

Those who supported the strike included nurses, cleaners, porters, midwives, occupational therapists, paramedics, scientists, radiographers, admin, catering and security staff.

This action was followed by six days of work-to-rule.

Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said: “The fact almost all health unions are taking part in the industrial action should ring alarm bells in Whitehall.

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Editorial

Who is the terrorist?

HOME Secretary Theresa May last Monday announced new Government powers that she claimed are necessary to combat the threat of terrorism and child sexual exploitation. These measures include a law forcing firms to hand details to police identifying who was using a computer or mobile phone at a given time.

The new Anti-Terrorism and Security Bill, internet service providers would have to hold on to data linking devices to users. It is blatantly an attempt to revive the “snoopers’ charter”, which died when the Liberal Democrats refused to support it and which would have given police and intelligence services access to information on all internet communications.

But as many suspected and Edward Snowden confirmed in his whistle-blowing leaks a couple of years ago, the American NSA and its collaborators in GCHQ in Cheltenham have pretty well been doing this anyway for a long time.

Anything that is technologically possible for secret intelligence services to do they will do and who can stop them? Or even know, or be able to prove, that they are doing it? Whenever we use a computer we have to assume they could have access to everything and mind our Ps and Qs

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