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Old February 28th, 2016 #3
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Post Investigatory Powers Bill: Theresa May accused of rushing, pre-Brexit, snoopers' charter into law to avoid scrutiny .Bill would give government unmatched rights to invade privacy.

Theresa May has been accused of trying to rush through controversial new surveillance laws before the EU referendum campaign, after it emerged that a new “snoopers’ charter” will be introduced in the Commons this week.

The Home Secretary’s draft Bill – giving spy agencies sweeping powers to monitor people’s web history – was attacked in a series of parliamentary reports earlier this month, sparking calls for it to be entirely rewritten.

A joint committee of MPs and peers has claimed that Mrs May’s proposed overhaul of spying laws was “flawed” and set out 86 proposed changes. However, Mrs May will formally bring forward the Government’s Investigatory Powers Bill on 1 March.

This has sparked concern that ministers want to bounce MPs into backing the new surveillance powers. The former Tory leadership contender David Davis said there was “no doubt” that the Government wanted to rush the Bill through Parliament to avoid scrutiny.

Government whips have told Labour that the Bill will be published on 1 March, with a second reading – giving MPs a line-by-line debate on the Bill – scheduled for 14 March. The Bill will then go to committee stage for scrutiny on 22 March, with a final vote expected in Parliament by the end of April.

Mr Davis said: “When you work it out, it’s a 300-page Bill – so that’s something like five seconds to consider each line on second reading.”

There was “no operational reason to rush it through”, he said, adding that existing emergency legislation – brought in in 2014 – could be extended for a year.

Mr Davis said: “It all keeps with their strategy, which is to rush everything through. They know when they engage with experts they lose. This is the way they will try to get this through – on the rush. There’s no doubt about it.”

Andy Burnham, the shadow Home Secretary, told The Independent on Sunday that he would withdraw Labour’s support for the Bill unless Mrs May backs down and allows lengthy scrutiny of the proposals.

He said: “The law needs to be updated to help the police investigate serious crime and protect us against terrorism. But my offer to work constructively with Theresa May only stands if Parliament is given enough time to carefully scrutinise this Bill.

“It needed to be considerably revised after three expert reports just a matter of weeks ago. For Labour’s support, ministers must show they have listened to our calls for greater transparency, stronger safeguards and protection of people’s privacy.

“It is crucial that this Bill is not rushed and necessary time is given to consider these complex issues.”

A Labour source added: “The Tories can’t rush through poor legislation just so they can devote more time to the [EU] referendum. They’ve tied themselves in knots over Europe but doing this won’t help.”

The Bill is the Government’s second attempt at creating new digital surveillance powers for the security services. The first – the original “snoopers’ charter” – was dropped after Nick Clegg vetoed its intr

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read full article at source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a6900566.html