Local MP speaks out against 'intrusive' Bill
Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has joined his SNP colleagues in voting against the UK Government’s ‘intrusive and flawed’ Investigatory Powers Bill.
Mr Newlands spoke during the Third Reading debate and raised concern about the provisions which would allow the government to record and retain a note of every website that is visited by members of the public.
Mr Newlands was a member of the Bill Committee which scrutinised this legislation on a line-by-line basis, and has constantly attempted improve the legislation to ensure that any new powers are necessary, proportionate and appropriately targeted, and to put in place robust safeguards and independent oversight.
Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:
''By voting against the flawed Investigatory Powers Bill the SNP is standing up for people’s civil liberties, privacy and data security.
“The UK government has had many months to make the case for introducing the wide-ranging new powers included in this Bill – powers that are of dubious legality and that go well beyond those provided for in other Western democracies – but it has failed to do so and it has also failed to deliver the robust safeguards and independent oversight that these powers require.
“I support giving the security services and the police the powers that they need to fight serious crime, but this Bill goes far beyond with what is necessary and many people are questioning whether these new powers are in accordance with the law.
“This flawed and intrusive Bill treats law-abiding citizens with suspicion and contains provisions which allow the recording and retention of every website that we visit. This Bill impinges significantly on the person privacy that we all enjoy, and that’s why the SNP voted against the Investigatory Powers Bill.”
