back to article Galloway and Greens challenge Brit spooks over dragnet snooping

A trio of politicians are challenging the government in a rare public hearing at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal today, alleging that British authorities ignored a ban on the tapping of MPs' and peers' telephones under a system of "blanket surveillance". The government and spooks are being dragged to the tribunal by the …

  1. Richard Wharram

    Oh God...

    Don't put me on the same side in any debate as George Galloway. It makes me feel unclean :(

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh God...

      Countdown to Government stooges realising they can now associate every privacy group with him...

  2. Yugguy

    Dear Mr. Galloway.

    Could you please do the decent thing and FUCK OFF NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN?

    Posted on behalf of basically everyone in the country.

    1. h4rm0ny

      Re: Dear Mr. Galloway.

      I rather enjoyed seeing him rip into the US Senate over Iraq. They basically tried to character assassinate this vocal critic by summoning him to answer charges of taking bribes from Iraq and it turned into one of the all the great political backfires of the decade. He pretty much tore down their case for the invasion of Iraq in meticulous detail and the lovely thing is, he backs everything up with references. Got a LOT of coverage of the flaws in the case for war. And possibly the only person I have ever seen successfully shoot down Fox News's Bill O'Reilly in his own show, no less.

      He also stands up for his principles. He's been badly beaten up twice by people with your attitude in the past couple of years. Once by a Zionist fanatic because of his criticisms of the Israeli government and I don't recall the other's reasons. But it seems to me he has a lot more courage and clear beliefs than a lot of MPs. He fought tooth and nail against the invasion of Iraq whilst most of the Labour and Tory politicians kowtowed to their political masters and only came out against the war much later when there was no political cost in doing so. Whilst Galloway is endlessly politically marginalized for positions that are actually pretty justifiable.

      So no, you don't get to speak for "basically everyone in the country", in fact, as the pretty much equal downvotes to your post show.

      1. Yugguy

        Re: Dear Mr. Galloway.

        Are you his mum?

        1. h4rm0ny

          Re: Dear Mr. Galloway.

          No. Are you his ex?

          1. Yugguy

            Re: Dear Mr. Galloway.

            My line was funnier.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Business as Usual

    This seems quite normal for our overlords

    "Why are people complaining about this blanket surveillance I mean its only to keep them safe and even if there is a bit of prying into there affairs its of no concern to them that we know that Joe Bloggs of 56 Bakers Street thinks the government is a load of crap, because hes busy shagging his nanny so we can use that to keep him quiet! Well that's that settled wheres my whisky.. hang on a sec this says that we are also part of this and so we will be monitored?

    Oh nononono that's not right can't have that this will have to stop right now its really bad and wrong, They might find out about the money I have stashed in the .. i better watch my words"

  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Unhappy

    "a certain set of rules and protocols" "met if there is a requirement to use any of these powers "

    You wonder does she really believe this twaddle.

    You think she probably does

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's good for the gander is good for the goose

    I could just about put up with whatever dragnet they want to impose if parliamentarians and peers were exclusively included. I'm sure they'd pay a lot more attention to what they're voting for then and debate it properly.

    Anonymous coward, obviously, parliamentary privilege.

  6. soldinio
    Facepalm

    They're just trying to level the field...........

    It's clear none of them understand how encryption works, what it does, or how to use it - so they need a special exemption from barely legal prying, to mitigate the need for encryption..

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Exactly how will GCHQ/NSA identify M.P. communications from everyone else's?

    I guess they must have something to hide.

    Let's face it most of the pedo's they are trying to save us from have passed through the commons at some point...

    1. annodomini2

      They probably operate the email server(s).

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Galloway Rocks....

    He might talk absolute rubbish but you can’t deny he is an amazing public speaker

    Remember his US senate performance:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4LDQixpCa8

    1. Yugguy

      Re: Galloway Rocks....

      I know this is reductio ad Hitlerum but Hitler was also an amazing public speaker.

      I don't believe he gives a toss about this subject, he just wants the publicity.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Galloway Rocks....@Yugguy

        You could say the same thing about Obama, as long as he has a speech writer and teleprompter. Hitler may have actually been better than Obama in that regard. Both used the same political techniques.

        He also doesn't give a toss about anything except his "legacy".

        1. DavCrav

          Re: Galloway Rocks....@Yugguy

          "He also doesn't give a toss about anything except his "legacy"."

          "Legacy" = what you did during your time in office, and whether it had a lasting effect? Seems a perfectly reasonable thing to give a toss about.

      2. h4rm0ny

        Re: Galloway Rocks....

        >>"I don't believe he gives a toss about this subject, he just wants the publicity"

        Any particular reason you would know the inner mind if George Galloway? He's been pretty badly beaten up twice by people for his criticisms of various powerful factions. He could have had a cushy and successful career in the Labour party but clashed with the whips repeatedly over points of principle and was eventually expelled from the Labour party for advocating that people refuse to go to war. This may come as a shock to you but you don't generally achieve political success by annoying the most powerful people in government. It actually tends to lead to political marginalization, severe curtailment if your political career and advancement. Oh, and character assassination. There has been a truly exceptional amount of that over the years in Galloway's case. Usually followed by people having to settle for libel, incidentally.

        So given how often he has set back his political career by sticking to his principles or pursuing human rights (he was an early supporter if same-sex marriage and I seem to recall him getting flack for voting to normalize the age of consent for homosexuality with heterosexuality), or been hospitalized for criticism of Israeli policy or put up with some pretty vicious attempts to end his career with various libels, I'm going to return to my original question. How is it you know that despite all the cost sticking to his principles has brought him, that you know that what he's really motivated by is the pursuit of fame?

        1. Yugguy

          Re: Galloway Rocks....

          Well I guess he must have something to inspire such an impassioned defence.

          Shame he did not manage to inspire the same in the people of Bradford during his time there.

          1. h4rm0ny

            Re: Galloway Rocks....

            >>"Well I guess he must have something to inspire such an impassioned defence"

            More that I just dislike cheap attacks and pretending to speak for the country.

            Anyway, given I posted facts and your posts go "are you his mum", I think this is pretty much done. As another poster said, if sponsors of mass surveillance just try to tar opponents of it by association, your sort of mindset is exactly the one that tactic works on. What matters is that they're trying to get away with dragnet style surveillance, not that you get upset about George Galloway.

            He has a very good track record of highlighting government wrongs. You should watch that link of him laying into the US case for war with Iraq. That got a lot of press and his arguing style is to back everything up with references as he goes, which is a lot better than most people's style of word play and veiled ad hominems, imho.

            1. Yugguy

              Re: Galloway Rocks....

              No.

              The real issue as that I find Galloway to be odious, oily, smug and self-centred.

              A massive contrast to another leftwing politician, Tony Benn, who also stuck to his principles no matter what (for instance, rejecting his peerage to remain an MP, staying firmly against nuclear weapons and the iraq war), and who, despite having very opposite policits to mine, I admired a lot.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Galloway Rocks....

                @Yugguy

                Ah yes, Tony Benn and his principles...

                1. Yugguy

                  Re: Galloway Rocks....

                  The Daily Mail? Seriously? Hardly a balanced reporting tool. And isn't there some unwritten rule about quoting the Wail on here?

                  The Mail. A rag in which whenever there is a piece about something I know of, it turns out to be either WRONG or a complete distortion of the truth.

                  I wouldnt even sully my chips with the Daily Mail.

                  1. h4rm0ny

                    Re: Galloway Rocks....

                    Strange... Character assassinations, pretending to speak for the whole of England, little jibes about the lack of education of kids today... It seems to me that you'd fit in pretty well at the Mail.

                    1. Yugguy

                      Re: Galloway Rocks....

                      It's a joke for crying out loud.

                      It amused me watching you leap to his defence.

                      1. h4rm0ny

                        Re: Galloway Rocks....

                        >>"It amused me watching you leap to his defence."

                        AKA, another boring troll.

              2. h4rm0ny

                Re: Galloway Rocks....

                >>"The real issue as that I find Galloway to be odious, oily, smug and self-centred. A massive contrast to another leftwing politician, Tony Benn, who also stuck to his principles no matter what

                So basically you think that he should leave the country because you don't like his manner whereas another politician you did so they can stay.

                Got it.

                1. Yugguy

                  Re: Galloway Rocks....

                  Yep, you've got it.

                  Took you long enough.

                  I don't know WHAT they teach kids these days.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    Doctrine

    I am in favour of the Wilson Doctrine being applied to MP's electronic communications, I would like it applied to all of us but that is most unlikely.

    As for the secret state blackmailing MPs well that's how hacker became PM

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