The UK Parliament was back in session after a conservative win and was, as is tradition, opened by the Queen.
Her Majesty, like other billionaires, mega-corporations and government deadweights, wants to spy on you.
In her address, the Queen called this spying “modernizing the law on communications data, improve the law on policing and criminal justice” in order to “tackle extremism”
We’ve heard this one before.
This is the same logic used to justify the patriot act, which the FBI admits has not resulted in a single case of extremism being disrupted.
But pesky facts shall not get in the way of Prime Minister David Cameron’s quest to make the United Kingdom one of the most repressive developed countries in the world.
High on his agenda to do this is a bill dubbed ‘the Snoopers’ Charter’, which was given a fresh push today.
The planned legislation is officially called Investigatory Powers Bill. According to the Queen’s Speech briefing pack, it will:
Provide the police and intelligence agencies with the tools to keep you and your family safe.
Address ongoing capability gaps that are severely degrading the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies ability to combat terrorism and other serious crime.
Maintain the ability of our intelligence agencies and law enforcement to target the online communications of terrorists, pedophiles and other serious criminals.
Modernize our law in these areas and ensure it is fit for purpose.
Provide for appropriate oversight and safeguard arrangements.
Terrorists and pedophiles, the two usual scare tactics to make the population to surrender their rights and submit to state surveillance, feature prominently in the reasoning for the new spying powers yet research has time and again shown that rates of these crimes are unaffected by surveillance while personal rights and hard won freedoms are eroded.
The law is expected to pass quickly as the conservative government now enjoys a majority enabling David Cameron to pursue his quest to be moral arbiter of the world.
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