miss_s_b: (feminist heroes: oracle)miss_s_b ([personal profile] miss_s_b) wrote,
@ 2012-04-02 10:10 am UTC
Current mood: contemplative
Entry tags:libdemmery
Under the last Labour government, there were plans to force ISPs to store information which could be accessed by the government on a whim. These plans were quietly shelved after howls of outrage from all right-thinking people.

Apparently, this government, prey to the same pressures from power-hungry securocrats, are considering putting a very similar bill into the Queen's speech this year. And since the news came out there have been very similar (and totally justified) howls of outrage from some of my favourite people. The thing is...

The Lib Dems are in government now. Even as a junior coalition partner, if we can't stop this in its tracks, if we can't prevent this red line from being crossed, then what's the bloody point? In economic terms, we Lib Dems run the gamut from practically communist to totally individualist Libertarian, but the thing that unites us is our love for freedom. If we capitulate on the basic freedoms like not being snooped by the government then we really are utterly pointless, as so many in the media and the other parties really want us to be.

And yet, this news has been leaked by un-named sources... There's a part of me that wonders if those un-named sources aren't some very useful Lib Dems trying to scupper this before it even gets on to the starting blocks. If that's the case, I say keep up the good work ma'am (or sir).


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ext_390810: (pic#350898)


[identity profile] http://www.nickbarlow.com/blog/
2012-04-02 01:46 pm UTC (link)
I wanted to believe your last paragraph might be the explanation, but having seen how other policies have gone, I was pretty sure it wasn't the case. Having now seen Clegg being quoted in favour of this, it's clear we're being sold down the river yet again.

Of course, what might happen is that there'll be all sorts of rage from the membership and Clegg et al will come back and say that the proposals have changed, they've had some Very Real Concessions (now the police will have to knock before kicking down your door in the middle of the night) and they'll vote for the proposals while chorusing 'but Labour would have done worse...'

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