The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, passed in 2000, one of the most insidious Acts of Parliament in modern times, set up a tribunal with the power to investigate any complaints against MI5, MI6 or GCHQ, including complaints about surveillance activities of the police or any other public bodies. Very little at first was heard […]
Posts Tagged ‘MI5’
Couldn’t make it up: Tribunal dealing with complaints against MI5/GCHQ is housed in Home Office!
Mar 12th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Outrage in the US and EU over total surveillance: why not in the UK?
Oct 21st, 2013 by Michael Meacher.The different reaction of politicians and public in the US and EU compared with the UK over the mass surveillance revelations is astonishing. Legislation is being drafted at this very moment in the US curtailing the powers of the NSA and the EU is already cracking down hard on US data surveillance. In the UK, […]
Time for a public inquiry into mass surveillance
Oct 12th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.The role of Parliament is to hold the Executive (Government) to account and the role of the media is to prevent the abuse of power and to provide a mechanism of accountability where that fails. Are they at present fulfilling that role? Neither is. And both have failed at the critical point where today the […]
Security services take big step closer to full State surveillance
Sep 3rd, 2012 by Michael Meacher.The government has quietly agreed to European measures that will open the gates to full-scale surveillance by the State. The current Communications and Data Bill now going through Parliament won’t, according to the Home Office, allow access to the content of phone calls, emails, texts or social media, but the government has at the same […]
MI5 exposed as a state within a state
Sep 5th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Documents abandoned in the ruined British embassy in Tripoli reveal that MI5 was working hand in glove with Gaddafi’s intelligence services from 2005 onwards to obtain details extracted under torture from ‘terror suspects’ (opponents of the Gaddafi regime) in return for information updates on the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Britain. Yesterday’s Sunday Times […]
7/7 inquest exposes lack of MI5 accountability
May 9th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Perhaps the most important finding in the inquest on the 7 July 2005 bombings was the revelation of how MI5, on the evidence of a senior MI5 officer, misled Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). This is the body that is supposed to exercise scrutiny and oversight of the security services, but what the inquest […]