TruePublica Editor: Since the beginning of this
century successive government’s have continually legislated away the
civil liberties and human rights of the British people in exchange for a
false sense of security. From the Terrorism Act and RIPA – now used to
catch pigeon feeding and under-age sun bed use, Public Space Protection
Orders to ban gatherings of more than three people, secret courts,
unlawful imprisonment and now the Espionage Act. This new Act has one
main purpose – to stifle free speech by treating whistleblowers and
journalists reporting the wrong-doing of those in power as foreign spies
with hugely extended prison sentences and to dismantle the basic
integrity of Britain’s democratic principles. In the space of little
more than fifteen years Britain is now on the trajectory of becoming an
authoritarian state. But don’t take my word for it….
Today marks the end of the Law
Commission’s public consultation on their proposals to create a new
Espionage Act that would jail whistleblowers and journalists who handle
official data. Open Rights Group gave them exactly what they asked
for―the voices of 23,385 members of the public, delivered right to their
offices at the Ministry of Justice.
ORG’s petition broadly rejects The Law Commission’s proposals and demands they be dropped.
