Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill

Debate between Apsana Begum and Rehman Chishti

2nd reading & 2nd reading: House of Commons
Monday 5th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rehman Chishti]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Apsana Begum]

I will make progress. This legislation seeks to allow the state legally to act with impunity in its surveillance missions. It hard not to see the Bill as another iteration of the expansion of state surveillance and the criminalisation of marginalised communities. We should not let our fundamental values of human rights, justice and equality be undermined.

On the international stage, we must stand up for the values we share: of justice, human rights and democracy, and of working with others to keep people safe by ending conflict and tackling the climate emergency. It is because I believe in those fundamental values and because I am committed to keeping all our communities safe that I will stand up against the Government’s increasingly draconian approach, which seeks to strip away the very freedoms that people in my constituency and all over the UK hold dear.