Today marks a very dark day for the future of our country as this corrupt rogue Tory Government gains a license to kill UK citizens with impunity and our loyal opposition follows the demand of Captain of Capitulation Starmer to wave the new legislation through unimpeded. The Tories must be rejoicing tonight over selecting the right Trojan horse to lead the Labour party into hell destroying the Human Rights of ordinary citizens to among other disreputable missions, protect the financial interests of the filthy rich Tory elite. Starmer must have collected a high ransom for functioning as Judas, firstly in betraying the Labour Party membership by rewarding John Ware and his fantisemitism smear team for their perjury, his ongoing critical support of the PM’s dangerously shambolic Covid 19 policy and now his support of lethal legislature that puts innocent, law-abiding citizens at dire risk of harm. The removal of Starmer from the Leadership of the Labour Party should now be a very urgent priority to restore democratic integrity.
In a Labour List Article entitled, “Voting down the CHIS bill would weaken national security and human rights,” Labour’s shadow security minister Coner McGinn, tried to defend the CHIS Spycops Bill. He wrote, “One of the many problems with losing general elections is that you don’t get the legislation or indeed much else you want. Many bills introduced by this government are nakedly political, divisive and deeply harmful to the national interest. In that bracket you find – amongst many others – the internal market bill, which openly breaks international law; the agriculture bill, which would lower food standards and harm our farming industry; and the immigration bill, which makes it harder to recruit staff for our NHS and care homes. Some, though, are necessary – particularly when concerning national security. But, of course, under a Tory government these bills will always be imperfect and written with fundamentally different priorities to a Labour government.” ‘Imperfect:’ Gutting our core rights and protections from Tory abuse more like!
McGinn claims that, “The covert human intelligence sources (criminal conduct) bill, which returns to the Commons this week, is in this latter group. The CHIS bill addresses a vital issue: the need to provide a clear lawful framework for telite.he use of human intelligence sources, who often help uncover crimes such as far-right terrorism and child sexual exploitation. Any responsible government acting in the national interest would need to legislate to address this. The current status quo is unacceptable, as it means this happens without proper oversight and the formal protections offered by the Human Rights Act.” Which would be a valid point if the Tory Party hadn’t pledged to withdraw the UK from the European Court of Human Rights and ‘redefine’ the rights that we will retain in future that will undoubtedly be geared towards protecting Corporate interests and the expanding wealth of the elite.
McGinn explains, “Since 2017, the security services have thwarted 27 terror attacks and in 2018 alone covert human intelligence sources helped disrupt 30 threats to life. But these sources cannot and should not operate without a clear legal framework that is legally enforceable, and that includes effective and necessary safeguards. That is the point this bill tries to address. Without the legislation, undercover sources will either be unable to operate – depriving our security services of a vital tool in disrupting terrorism and serious and organised crime – or continue to do so only by operating in the shadows. Neither outcome is in the national interest. Both are worse than this bill passing.”
McGinn claims that, “The bill makes clear that any activity carried out by agents must be compliant with the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights – which explicitly outlaws torture, murder and sexual violence. This is a powerful, important and legally enforceable protection. It means agents cannot be authorised to undertake any activity that breaches the HRA or the ECHR – and that this can be upheld in court.” That might protect us until this Tory Government decides to abandon the jurisdiction of the Court exactly as pledged and rewrite our Human Rights Law. McGinn notes that, “Keir Starmer, who literally wrote the text book on human rights law and has represented those seeking justice in the very highest courts in the land on this issue, made that case incredibly powerfully to Labour MPs this week. However, we recognise the bill is far from perfect.” In his role at the CPS Sir Keir Starmer was strongly implicated in the Spycops scandal and his involvement could still be further exposed.
McGinn touts the Labour intervention saying, “Our amendments would put in place stronger safeguards and strengthen rights for victims. They would also reinforce the existing legal position that legitimate trade union activity is explicitly excluded from the ambit of investigatory powers. We will also seek to improve the bill in House of Lords and use every opportunity possible to improve it throughout its passage through parliament.” All of the amendments were ditched, but without the necessary checks and balances you still abstained from casting a vote. Too little, too late now to regret your actions; this dangerous erosion of public protection from malign state actors will pass into UK law. It will be a war of attrition from here on in; how much influence will the House of Lords have now?
McGinn seeks to reassure acknowledging that, “There have been concerns raised about the potential for this bill to interfere with the campaigns against burning injustices, such as the ‘spycops’ scandal, the appalling events at and surrounding Orgreave, the abuse and secrecy around the Cammell Laird shipyard workers and the Shrewsbury 24, and collusion on blacklisting.” He says, “That is why we have been pressing the government to be explicit in stating that this bill is in no way retrospective and cannot legally impede these campaigns for justice. On all these issues, the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer remains steadfastly committed to supporting those campaigns – many of which he has fought for throughout his working life. We also pressed and received a firm commitment from the government that this bill will have no business interfering in the lawful activities of our trade union movement, which is a cornerstone of our democracy.” Any assurances will be based on placing trust in a serial liar!
McGinn also noted that, “Some people have raised the possible impact on addressing issues relating to the Troubles Northern Ireland and the pursuit of justice and truth, specifically in cases like that of the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane and many others involving state agents. This is something that is deeply personal to me and indeed Keir Starmer, and we place the utmost importance on it.” Yet more blind faith in the integrity of a serial liar… McGinn continued, “As I said at the despatch box when this bill received second reading, I do not need to be convinced about the consequences of the state exceeding its power in this arena. I saw the consequences of it, which is why I am acutely aware of the need the greater oversight and human rights protections in this bill. It’s also why I have been dogged in ensuring cast iron guarantees that this bill will not stand in the way of justice for victims.”
McGinn felt he had made his case, but I question the naivety of his trust in a thoroughly untrustworthy Tory Government with a tracl record for abuse of power. He said, “In short, we must ensure that the security services have the powers they need to keep us safe – and we will also introduce proper oversight, scrutiny and legal safeguards alongside robust protection for victims. Given the opportunity that is what a Labour government would do: protect national security, strengthen human rights, support victims. But until then we have to deal with the legislation this government brings forward, and do so in a way that shows we are a responsible government-in-waiting. The covert human intelligence sources (criminal conduct) bill is imperfect, but voting it down would weaken national security and lead to weaker legal safeguards. That’s not a choice we will make.”
The Independent Article entitled, “MPs vote against attempt to ban undercover agents from committing murder, torture and rape,” outlines those who took a conscientious stand and why. They report that, “MPs have voted against an attempt to formally ban undercover agents and informants from committing murder, torture and rape. The House of Commons rejected an amendment that aimed to limit the kind of crimes that can be authorised under a new law. The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill went on to pass its third reading by 313 votes to 98, sending the unamended legislation off to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.It would allow public authorities, ranging from police and MI5 to HMRC and the Food Standards Agency, to authorise agents and informants to commit crimes while undercover.”
What is truly shocking is that according to the Independent, “The proposed authorisations would not only be issued in the interests of national security or preventing and detecting crime, but also preventing ‘disorder’ and in the ‘interests of the economic well-being of the United Kingdom.” One can very easily imagine how such broad-ranging powers could be stretched to encompass all protests against the draconian authoritarian measures that the Government will require to subdue the rage of the increasingly exploited UK population. Environmental groups, animal rights activists and pretty much all organizations on the progressive left of politics will be aggressively targeted; we know this as these groups have already suffered significant abuses in the past. This law will protect the Arms Industry, Fracking companies, fox hunters and the Israeli Lobby trying to stop BDS and call out fantisemitism smears or for that matter anyone trying to challenge the wanton destruction of our environment and the rapacious Corporate elitist greed.
The Independent note that, “An amendment tabled by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would have stopped the authorisation of serious offences including causing death or bodily harm, torture, violating the sexual integrity of a person and detention. It was defeated by 316 votes to 256 on Thursday.” Sadly it was not enough for the cowardly wimp now in control of the Labour party to finally ‘grow a spine’ and support MPs who have voted with their conscience against the CHIS Spycops Bill. The Independent note that even, “Conservative former minister David Davis, who proposed a similar amendment, pointed out that allies US and Canada have ‘specific limits’ on the crimes their agents can commit. He said the amendments ‘would give the intelligence services the protections they need but stop short of giving them the carte blanche authorisation to carry out the heinous crimes in the name of the state that have happened too often in the past’.” But it sees all attempts to instil sanity were defeated.
According to the Independent, “James Brokenshire, the security minister, told MPs that the bill would make authorised crimes ‘lawful for all purposes and no crime will have been committed’. But he denied that it was a licence to ‘commit any and all crimes’ because of human rights laws and codes of practice.” They say, “MPs also voted against an amendment that would have required authorities to apply for judicial warrants for criminal conduct authorisations, and set out the reasons why they were needed.” This means that future lawlessness would require less authorization that a wire tap or a search warrant. Adding to the frustration felt by those who vehemently opposed the CHIS Bill was the way that it was raced through Parliament. They noted that, “Several MPs complained that time to debate the law had been severely limited, amid accusations that the government was rushing the bill through ahead of potentially damaging findings in the upcoming Undercover Policing Inquiry.
To the utter disgrace of the party under the cowardly Leadership of Keir Starmer, the Independent report that, “Labour whipped its MPs to abstain from the vote, prompting a flurry of resignations from Labour front benchers from the left of the party – including shadow financial secretary Dan Carden who resigned his post ahead of the debate. He told the Commons the bill ‘paves the way for gross abuses of state power against citizens’ and accused the government of taking the Labour leadership ‘for a rise’ with loose assurances.” Why more Labour MPs did not demonstrate this courage of conviction is an issue they must be confronted with by their constituents in the coming months as we descend into the tyranny, exploitation and deprivation of full Tory Dictatorship.
The Independent point out that, “Officials have argued that the Human Rights Act must be considered in authorisations and would prevent the most grievous crimes, but several MPs questioned that assurance. Sir Bob Neill, a former Conservative minister and chair of the Justice Committee, telling the Commons: ‘If that’s the case, given the importance of the subject, why not put that on the face of the Bill?” Ominously he warned that, “should there be at any time a future government… that derogated from the Human Rights Act, it would be better to have that protection here’. Sir Bob also raised concern over the redress open to victims of authorised crimes, but Mr Brokenshire said the bill was not a barrier to judicial review or scrutiny by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.” The Tories have already pledged in their Manifesto to remove the UK from the International Court of Human Rights and redefine what our rights will shrink to in the near future’ the Tories also pledged to reduce the powers of Judicial Review.
The Independent reported that, “Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, called for an amendment to prevent children and vulnerable informants being subject to criminal conduct authorisations unless ‘exceptional circumstances apply’. The government said the proposal was covered by separate guidance on the law but she called for it to be contained in the bill itself, adding: ‘It is right to see them as children first’.” They noted that, “Liberal Democrat former minister Alistair Carmichael suggested a series of changes to implement further safeguards, including to prevent crimes on economic grounds being authorised unless there is a national security justification. ‘If it’s decided we may be need a different governor of the Bank of England, can we authorise a Chis (Covert human intelligence source) to wipe him out?’ he asked.”
The article reported that, “The independent chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Julian Lewis, asked for a commitment to oversight in the bill, which Mr Brokenshire said he intended to provide. His amendment, which was also defeated, would have mandated annual reports to the committee containing statistics on the number and category of criminal conduct authorisations by the intelligence services. The bill was drawn up after MI5 narrowly won an Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ruling over the lawfulness of agents’ crimes, while a separate challenge over the use of children as informants and spies continues.” It seems all attempts to include appropriate safeguards were rejected; so the new Dictatorship will have unlimited powers to break the law and sanction others from a slew of different agencies to function as covert henchmen on their behalf. It will be noted in history as one of the key stages in the destruction of UK democracy and the loyal opposition stood by and did nothing to stop it!
I have yet to see the numbers, but there was opposition from the Tory side too so how big of an impact did Keir Starmer’s forced abstention by Labour MPs make on this third reading of the CHIS Spycops Bill? Could the bill have been defeated with enough to tip the balance or is it just an issue that will burn in the moral conscience of Labour MPs when the authoritarian Tory Dictatorship rampantly abuses these new powers? As already noted, in the dystopian future ahead of us Starmer’s truly disgraceful cowardice will be used as a weapon against the Labour Party. We cannot condone Labour MPs failure to vote under an excuse of following the orders of new Leadership; these repeated abstentions on critical Human Rights issues demonstrate an absence of leadership: Starmer has to go! The legitimacy of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election must be challenge and Investigated as it has deprived this country of Jeremy Corbyn, a truly humanitarian Socialist Leader acting for the good of the British people: the Tories must go! DO NOT MOVE ON!