Emergency phone and internet data laws to be passed
Emergency powers to ensure police and security services can continue to access phone and internet records are being rushed through Parliament.
Prime Minister David Cameron has secured the backing of all three main parties for the highly unusual move.
He said urgent action was needed to protect the public after the European Court of Justice struck down existing surveillance powers.
But civil liberties campaigners have warned it will invade people's privacy.
Mr Cameron defended the move in a joint news conference with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, saying it was about maintaining existing capabilities - not introducing new snooping laws.
An EU directive requiring phone and internet companies to retain communications data - when and who their customers called, texted and emailed but not what was said - for a 12-month period was ruled unlawful in April by the European Court.
Without a new law being passed in the UK to retain the powers, Mr Cameron claims that that information could be destroyed within weeks by companies fearing legal challenges, meaning police and the security services would not be able to access it.
He also revealed that he wanted to "clarify" the law on bugging of suspects' phones by the police and security services, after concerns that service providers were turning down requests from the home office.
But there would also be new moves to "increase transparency and oversight", including:
- A senior diplomat will be appointed to lead discussions with the US government and internet firms to establish a new international agreement for sharing data between legal jurisdictions
- The creation of a new Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to examine the impact of the law on privacy and civil liberties
- A review of the controversial RIPA - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
- Annual government transparency reports on how these powers are used
- A restriction on the number of public bodies able to ask for communications data
- The so-called sunset clause ensuring these powers end in 2016 to ensure a longer and wider debate about what replaces them
Mr Cameron said: "We face real and credible threats to our security from serious and organised crime, from the activity of paedophiles, from the collapse of Syria, the growth of Isis in Iraq and al Shabab in East Africa.
"I am simply not prepared to be a prime minister who has to address the people after a terrorist incident and explain that I could have done more to prevent it."
He stressed that the measures were about "plugging holes" in the legislation but were not about any "new obligations for phone and internet companies, nor any new intrusions on civil liberties".
He added: "I want to be very clear that we are not introducing new powers or capabilities - that is not for this Parliament.
"This is about restoring two vital measures ensuring that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies maintain the right tools to keep us all safe," he said.
original post found herhttp://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-28237111
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