Thread by @carolecadwalla

If you are an MP, please take seriously your duty to scrutinise this bill today. We need to respond to this emergency. But we also need to carefully balance the threat to our civil rights from sweeping new powers to arrest, detain, surveil for next 2 years
gov.uk/government/pub…

Why is it for 2 years? The government is not revealing information suggesting it believes this crisis will last 2 years. Why the discrepancy? And if it's not telling us stuff now, this bill will give it powers to tell us not much more stuff in the future.

I'm v concerned about how data will be used. What data will not be revealed to us - as is happening now. And what data will be taken from us - to surveil & monitor us. I'm keeping this v v measured but if you've followed me for last 3 years, you'll know the basis for my concerns

This is big, important, scary stuff that is going to be enshrined in law today (?) with bare minimum of debate & scrutiny. The govt will work with tech companies in ways that will be totally opaque to us. The only way to contain this virus is to track & trace.

But what will that mean? In the context that we know that historically emergencies extends power of the state to monitor & control but that we all now live with surveillance devices in our pockets?

This bill creates legal basis for what *could* be a form of surveillance authoritarianism. And it's going to be debated & passed into law by a small scattering of desperately worried MPs.

Please just read the detail & consider all possible consequences
ENDS

Okay, bill now published. MPs - it really is vital that you read every word

services.parliament.uk/Bills/2019-21/…