BRITAIN: The British government is coming under mounting pressure over a "snooper's charter" giving government agencies, councils and officials access to people's email and telephone records.
The Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, is to announce new safeguards later today is a bid to allay rising public alarm.
MPs were to have debated the proposed extension of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - branded "a milestone on the road to a totalitarian state" by a former chairman of the Bar - in standing committee later today.
However the Home Office yesterday cited timetabling difficulties and confirmed a delay of one week as the Liberal Democrats successfully pressed to have the issue debated on the floor of the House of Commons.
The government had intended to effect the changes by way of secondary legislation, after a minimal debate and, as critics put it, "by virtual ministerial decree".
But as some opposition MPs demanded fresh primary legislation, the leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, Lord Strathclyde, vowed to lead cross-party opposition in the Upper House. Leading the call for parliamentary resistance, Lord Strathclyde insisted the government had failed to make the case for this further "threat to civil liberties" and said the Lords "must be ready to protect the rights of individuals and to stand for a sense of proportion and natural justice".
The adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights forced the British government to legislate to provide cover for covert surveillance. But when it introduced the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act two years ago ministers insisted the new powers would only be used in the context of anti-terrorist investigations.
Under the Act the police and intelligence services, Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise can access records showing who people have emailed or telephoned, the identity of websites visited and, by way of mobile phone, location date, the whereabouts of an individual at any given time.
Now the government proposes to extend these powers to seven Whitehall departments, local councils and public bodies such as the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Food Standards Agency in a massive extension of the state's surveillance potential.
Civil liberties campaigners have highlighted the risk of abuse and the absence of adequate safeguards in a system where officials would only require authorisation from a designated officer within their own organisation and would not be required to seek the permission of the courts. And the Daily Telegraph yesterday joined the attack, describing "the opportunities for blackmail or abuse of power" as "immense".
The Home Office Minister, Mr Bob Ainsworth, yesterday insisted people did not know or understand what was proposed. Asserting that data was being exchanged on a voluntary basis, he said the government's purpose was to protect individual rights and freedoms by providing a proper legislative framework and oversight.
However under sustained questioning last week on BBC's Newsnight programme, the minister was unable to give any indication of the scale of additional surveillance envisaged.
Asked why the proposed commissioner was preferable to a judge in deciding to grant access to records, Mr Ainsworth said: "We are talking about quite considerable areas of work here. If what we're saying is that in every single case and circumstance we need prior consent, then I think that is hugely problematical."
Under the proposals those authorised would have access to the source and destination of emails and phone calls but not to their content.