Investigatory Powers Bill (Eleventh sitting)

Suella Braverman Excerpts

Committee Debate: 11th sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 26th April 2016 Public Bill Committees

The Minister has talked about the powers not being new, and there has been a recent avowal that the communications data of UK citizens are already being collected in bulk under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984. That section is somewhat vaguely worded and, as the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis) has said, nobody could have envisaged that it would be used for that purpose when the Act was passed because, as I think I am correct in saying, in 1984 the internet was just a notion in the minds of several clever individuals.

[Suella Fernandes (Fareham) (Con)]

Does the hon. and learned Lady agree that all three independent assessments concluded that the mass surveillance she suggests is complete fantasy? In his evidence to the Joint Committee, Professor Clarke from the Royal United Services Institute endorsed the approach. The idea that the state somehow has a huge control centre where it is watching what we do is complete fantasy. Not only is there a limit to capacity but there is no interest in carrying out such activities.

[Joanna Cherry]

The hon. Lady may recall that, when I spoke about this on Second Reading, I said that I was not going to use the phrase “snoopers charter” because it is counterproductive, and nor was I going to use the phrase “mass surveillance,” but that I was going to use the phrase “suspicionless surveillance.” What is happening under section 94 of the Telecommunications Act will continue to happen if we pass these powers without questioning them properly: bulk acquisition warrants will authorise the acquisition of huge amounts of communications data on everybody living in the United Kingdom, which will then be analysed by computers at GCHQ without any further need for authorisation. My argument is that that is a form of suspicionless surveillance. While it may have some utility, as David Anderson has said, I am not convinced that it is either necessary or proportionate. I made some fairly detailed arguments last Thursday about the inadequacy of the operational case and will not repeat them.