Labour Party to overhaul spy agency controls in response to Snowden files

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/02/labour-party-to-overhaul-spy-agency-controls-in-response-to-snowden-files/

Labour Party to overhaul spy agency controls in response to Snowden files
By The Guardian
Sunday, March 2, 2014 21:18 EST
Patrick Wintour, The Guardian

Yvette Cooper says debate over privacy, civil liberties and the role of the intelligence agencies has barely started in Britain

Labour will on Monday propose substantial changes to the oversight of the British intelligence agencies, including the legal framework under which they operate, in response to the revelations emerging from files leaked by Edward Snowden.

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is preparing to argue that the current arrangements are unsustainable for the government, and that it is damaging to trust in the agencies if ministers continue to hide their heads in the sand.

In a speech that represents Labour’s most serious intervention since the controversy about the scale of state surveillance broke last summer, she will say: “The oversight and legal frameworks are now out of date. In particular that means we need major reforms to oversight and a thorough review of the legal framework to keep up with changing technology.”