back to article UK.gov's data grab and stab law imminent as Drip drips through House of Lords

A controversial data retention and investigatory powers bill (Drip) that has been quickly shoved through Parliament by the Tory-led Coalition government looks set to become law after peers in the House of Lords waved it through without challenge. The bill's passage followed less than two days of debate in the upper chamber, …

  1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    Bound to clash

    As the EU DRD has been struck down as a violation of human rights already.

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      In other news ...

      The tories want to redefine human rights ...

      Coincidence ?

      1. phil dude
        Coat

        Re: In other news ...

        of course, non-Tories are not human.

        P.

      2. Spoonsinger

        Re: "The tories want to redefine human rights ..."

        Ermm, this was an all party vote. They are doing it for your benefit!, (errm IGMC).

  2. DJO Silver badge

    Learn from history, or not.

    "Legislate in haste repent at leisure"

    Except this bunch of maniacs wouldn't know how to repent.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This is no way to run an alleged democracy. A bill that they would emphatically not get consent for, rushed through by dodgy means to create law to screw the populace over.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      It's exactly how to run an "alleged" democracy.

      1. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

        I believe that there is a review clause

        It was added as an amendment by the opposition. So this should mean that there is an opportunity to have it reviewed by the house some time in the next parliament. But it's not a proper sunset clause, just a review.

        Whether this will actually cause it to be changed is another matter entirely!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I believe that there is a review clause

          "But it's not a proper sunset clause, just a review"

          Wasn't the US Patriot Act similarly endowed?

  4. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    Good to see that Serious Crime is taken Seriously

    I expect a swift drastic reduction of all serious crimes across the UK. That, or a reduction in the Dreaded School Map Dodgers and Fly Tippers gang that is putting our lives at risk everyday. Not to forget Parking Ticket Evaders. Apocalypse averted, then. Pheww!

    And all that only at the cost of a tiny bit of generalized comprehensive spying on your every move. Bargain!

  5. TheColinous

    This country is so fucked. I don’t know whether to laugh with schadenfreude or cry in despair. Really.

    And these pompous asses in our parliament and lords will tomorrow, or next week, or next months stand there and chastise some third world country clawing themselves toward democracy. We have it, but those idiots have just given it away. These geriatric fools whose closest experience with technology is to have their man do the sums on a calculator.

    I am really hoping that the Scots vote Yes. It’s the only thing that will crash the rotten, corrupt shambles to pieces in a way that doesn’t include borrowing Guilloutines from France’s museums.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Been telling my kids that at the moment it's similar to the 1930's what with the financial crash, and food banks etc, if "Tommorow Belongs to Me" suddenly becomes popular in the charts you might want to start thinking about emigration.....

    2. (AMPC) Anonymous and mostly paranoid coward

      Screw that, build your own

      http://www.guillotine.dk/Pages/drawing1792.html

  6. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

    I finally understand

    I read some of the debate from Tuesday. The existing legislation that requires Service Providers to keep call 'metadata' was passed into UK law as Secondary Legislation. This means that it had not been debated in the House of Commons at all, merely in committee.

    The Home Secretary obviously decided that only being Secondary Legislation meant that although it is still UK Law, it is weaker and could possibly be neutered if it challenged in the Supreme Court by the Service Providers, particularly those in other countries.

    Rushing DRIP through means that it will now be Primary Legislation, and would be harder to challenge. This is something that I only understood yesterday.

    I hate the Government, regardless of their colour, using Secondary Legislation for something that is as important as this. It's what finally convinced me that the UK Identity Card scheme was a really bad idea, because the bill to authorise the ID card system was deliberately designed so that it could be extended by Secondary Legislation without it being debated in either house. Once set up, the underlying database could have been used for anything that the government wanted without proper scrutiny.

  7. Mark 85

    Much like the US (and other countries) then...

    I'm thinking that those who all jumped up to vote "yes", know what the local spy agency has on them. Self preservation and all that.

    Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. There's different levels of power and the trick now is to figure out who has the real power. The legislative types or the surveillance types? Also, how to change things short of having a revolution which brings in a new set of players... as well as bunches from the old regime.

  8. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Stop

    It's worth repeating ...

    A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

    The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.

    Alexander Fraser Tytler (although disputed)

    1. Frankee Llonnygog

      Re: It's worth repeating ...

      I'm struggling to think of any examples of civilisations following that trajectory. For example, postwar boom USA was still segregated. Maybe I'm just a cynic

      1. phil dude
        Facepalm

        Re: It's worth repeating ...

        yeah, but they didn't the internet. The most effective waste of time possible. Sure we can use it to cure disease but there is more media available for consumption than any human lifetime....

        P.

  9. Mystic Megabyte
    FAIL

    See how the useless scumbags voted

    http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/07/16/mp-vote-privacy/

    That's the last vote you get from me Alistair.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Are they REALLY working for us?

    E-Mailed my MP, Hugh Robertson, about this and got back a load of boiler-plate waffle (in my opinion) by snail-mail, which makes it clear that he approves. Not sure why, as the Parliamentary record shows he was absent. Does this mean he didn't vote?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Are they REALLY working for us?

      No - they work for Uncle Sam.

      What's worse is that they are proud of their work.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    questions have been raised

    and, traditionally, no real answers were given

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    so now you know who not to vote for

    given that they pretty much all voted for it.

    that said, 0.0005% elections turnout is still valid, is it not?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Funny how it had to be rushed through so quickly

    It seems there are people in Westminster who are desperate to cover their asses any way they can.

    I wonder if there is any link to this and the recent revelations about current and ex MP's and Lords who were charged with child abuse. Also is this the reason why Hague had to be sidelined?

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2682151/There-establishment-cover-child-abuse-claims-protect-says-Lord-Tebbit.html

  14. Craigie

    Yay for my MP

    She voted no to this travesty. I'm wondering if age is a factor in which way they generally voted as she is under 50.

  15. JaitcH
    Thumb Down

    The House of Lords, a place of considered reflection. NOT!

    Passing a bill in a single day makes a mockery of the whole process ... and we don't even have the opportunity of voting them out.

    A bunch of free-loading leeches.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Peers argued today that such a move to end the legislation earlier than planned would clash with next year's General Election."

    Well gosh, we wouldn't want anything like a proper debate on civil liberties, human rights etc getting in the way of the important issues, like who can come up with the most coherent media friendly soundbite without actually saying anything at all.

    And they wonder why people are disillusioned with politics...

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In other news

    New free energy device discovered, by attaching George Orwell's coffin to a turbine.

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