This afternoon I received this email from Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat Home Office Minister, which was sent out to all Lib Dem members about the concerning press reports about changes to the interception of communications.
"I wanted to write to reassure you that the current reports in the media about Government plans to snoop on your emails are complete nonsense.
Liberal Democrats have always been, and will continue to be, opposed to a centralised database that allows government to monitor your internet activity at will.
That is not going to happen under these proposals and never will happen in a government that includes me and the Liberal Democrats.
The proposals being considered would simply update the current rules – which allow the police in criminal investigations to find out who was contacted and when – to cover new forms of technology that didn’t even exist when the original laws were made, like Skype.
What this will not do is allow the government, or the police, or any other agencies, to read your emails and Facebook messages (or any other social media for that matter) at will. The content of your communications is currently, and will always be, protected by tough rules that mean a warrant is needed before any interception could take place.
Our party has a proud history of defending civil liberties which has continued in this Coalition Government.
We’ve scrapped ID cards, ended child detention for immigration purposes, stopped indefinite retention of innocent peoples’ DNA, restored the right to protest in Parliament Square, scrapped control orders and ended 28-day detention without charge – to name but a few!
And as long as Liberal Democrats are in Government we will continue to fight for everyday freedoms that our party has long held dear.
Yours,
Lynne
PS Nick Clegg has been talking about this today – to see what he said click here."
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