Comments on: Tories divided over UK spying bill, Home Secretary dismisses critics as "conspiracy theorists" who want to protect freedom for "criminals, terrorists and paedophiles"

By: Gijs Peetsold

Gijs Peetsold — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Funny how politicians always seem to accuse the opposition of the exact shit they are actually pulling.

I mean YOU wanna spend 2 billion pounds, in a recession no less, on checking out EVERYONE’S e-mail and other digital communications because you believe that you are in fact surrounded by terrorists, criminals and child pornographers…

…but WE are the paranoid conspiracy theorists for suggesting that this might be a little bit overboard.

You wanna know what kinda shit your rep is pulling? Just look at what he is accusing others of doing. Really, once you start noticing this you’ll see that it is everywhere.

By: Sono

Sono — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:30:00 +0000

I wonder if they would be allowed to systematically open regular (paper) mail. The fact is they rely on the fact that laymen haven’t clear exactly what the Internet is.

By: Wreckrob8

Wreckrob8 — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:47:00 +0000

A putative bad guy is a potential trophy you can parade before the public, another notch in your stick. It appeals to simple minds and provides the fear factor which gets everybody all excited, as all dictatorships know.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Theresa May is such a nob.

By: Topperfalkon

Topperfalkon — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Absolutely, which is why I’m grateful we have people like him in the party in power at the moment.

By: Shinkuhadoken

Shinkuhadoken — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:07:00 +0000

We need people who believe in the protection of privacy and freedom on all sides of the political spectrum. It’s that important. In Canada, it’s up to the Conservatives who haven’t completely lost their mind who can prevent us from going down a similar path of perpetual government surveillance on our daily lives.

By: peterblue11

peterblue11 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:03:00 +0000

The only terrorists she is going to reach with this law is new national terrorists, normal people who become more and more disgusted with their own country and the growing levels of obvious corruption in the puppet government. you reap what you sow.

By: fiveskullcrown

fiveskullcrown — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:27:00 +0000

Is she using Genesis P Orridge as her style guru?

By: Topperfalkon

Topperfalkon — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:07:00 +0000

I would, but then she’d complain my downloaded copy is ‘stolen’.

By: Will Bueche

Will Bueche — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:52:00 +0000

She’s wearing a futuristic top but hasn’t learned any lessons from science fiction warnings about false utopias? Someone drop off a copy of Aeon Flux, quick.

By: Topperfalkon

Topperfalkon — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:08:00 +0000

David Davis is among those very few in Parliament that actually ‘gets’ technology.

Why he remains a Conservative is beyond me, but we’re certainly lucky to have him at the moment.

By: lilbear68

lilbear68 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:58:00 +0000

it always starts with ‘its for your safety or its to save the children’ but then it grows out of control and when it goes horribly wrong theres no one that has to take resposibility for the mistakes and if a law suit is won in the end its the taxpayer that ultimately pays for the error and the pigs just shrug and go on

By: Tom Henthorn

Tom Henthorn — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:25:00 +0000

Let us all congratulate the terrorists. Every new piece of alarmist, totalitarian legislation passed by “free” nations around the world is another victory for them… and they’ve barely even needed to leave their houses for the past decade! We’re doing all the work for them.

By: bluest_one

bluest_one — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:18:00 +0000

It was interesting, and pleasing to hear, Leveson respond to that use of the word “conspiracy” and choosing to dismiss it, using a more neutral term to replace it.

Politicians think we’re idiots – they hope to fool the most uninformed and use those uniformed persons’ complicit, but ignorant, rantings to create a momentum to help create the impression of substance and agreement with their nonsensical bullshit.

It’s what “talking points” are all about.

By: Sanjaya Kumar

Sanjaya Kumar — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:57:00 +0000

I kept looking for the Benny Hill reference …

By: David Witt

David Witt — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:37:00 +0000

She forgot to mention Emmanuel Goldstein.

By: Phil Ward

Phil Ward — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:03:00 +0000

Ecellent use of tags there, the other articles in the category fill me with rage.

By: Ryan Lenethen

Ryan Lenethen — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Someone better go update Vic Toews wiki page, as it says he is from Paraguay. Clearly he has some relatives across the pond as well…

By: liquidstar

liquidstar — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Yep. I think it’s pretty obvious at this point who the “criminals, terrorists and paedophiles” are. It s classic misdirection; hiding at the very center of the pan-opticon.

By: howaboutthisdangit

howaboutthisdangit — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:14:00 +0000

I wouldn’t call it a conspiracy. That’s credits these people with more intelligence than I believe they have.

Power grab. That’s the right term.

By: duc chau

duc chau — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:14:00 +0000

What is it about people like Theresa May who are more concerned with getting the bad guy rather than serving the good guys? Why are they blind to the fact that their intentions, as well-meaning as they might be, have to be implemented as policy on a systemic level and, by their very nature, invite abuse? Pure egotism I suppose. Makes me want to slap that fucking smile right off of her face.

By: Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:11:00 +0000

What’s depressing about this whole war on crime nonsense is that crime in the developed world is already at historic lows.

Unless you count corruption.

But they’re not interested in stopping that.

By: exile

exile — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:32:00 +0000

StasiLand

By: a6 master

a6 master — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:32:00 +0000

“Trust has been replaced by suspicion.” just as it has with all the CRB etc. checks. Why do I have to prove my innocence? If I am obliged to, I am no longer a private citizen.

By: Glen Able

Glen Able — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:24:00 +0000

The PM is also defending himself with “conspiracy” accusations today. From the BBC:

‘David Cameron has accused Gordon Brown of “cooking up” a “specious and unjustified conspiracy theory” about a deal between the Conservatives and media group News International.’

By: Abel Undercity

Abel Undercity — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:52:00 +0000

Also, I trust she’ll be removing all draperies and blinds from the windows on her home. After all, as she’s not a criminal, terrorist, or pedophile, she surely has nothing to hide.

By: leaded

leaded — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:39:00 +0000

each time i hear news out of britain it’s a step closer to ‘children of men’. a great movie but not really a great future.

By: Scurra

Scurra — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:29:00 +0000

Considering that the Government recently decided not to release the “risk assessment” of the NHS reforms, you wonder what terrorists and criminals they are trying to shield. (Oh, wait, I think I just answered that question for myself…)

By: Daneel

Daneel — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:28:00 +0000

“Labour have subjected Britain’s historic freedoms to unprecedented attack. They have trampled on liberties and, in their place, compiled huge databases to track the activities of millions of perfectly innocent people, giving public bodies extraordinary powers to intervene in the way we live our lives. The impact of this has been profound and farreaching. Trust has been replaced by suspicion. The database state is a poor substitute for the human judgement essential to the delivery of public services. Worse than that, it gives people false comfort that an infallible central state is looking after their best interests. but the many scandals of lost data, leaked documents and database failures have put millions at risk. it is time for a new approach to protecting our liberty.”

Invitation to Join the Government of Britain: Conservative Manifesto 2010

David Davis aside, they’re all totally worthless on this issue.

By: atimoshenko

atimoshenko — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:22:00 +0000

Will Ms May be willing to make publicly available all information about herself that would be accessible to the government without a warrant should this bill pass?

If not, is she a criminal, a terrorist, or a pedophile? After all, the innocent have nothing to hide, right?