Changes to the law on communications

The Government has not yet revealed the full extent of its plans to change the law to allow it to monitor emails and websites.

National security and personal privacy are both very important issues. I would like to see the full detail of their plans as any legislation on these areas needs serious scrutiny.

The police and security services need to be able to keep up with new technology to deal with serious issues including disrupting terrorist planning, catching paedophile rings or cracking down on organised crime. The law currently allows use of existing technology to do this but does not cover all technologies.

But there also need to be strong safeguards to protect people's privacy. We need clear checks and balances on what the police, security services or the Government are able to do, so that privacy and security are both protected and so that public confidence and trust in the system is upheld.