The Lords has defeated the government a total of six times during the Public Order Report Stage.
Tag: Civil liberties
Government, the police and intelligence services are too easily given sweeping powers that they too often abuse.
Jenny works with campaigners to defend our civil liberties. She has worked on legislation like the Investigatory Powers Bill, raised the cases of victims of state power such as detained pregnant women, and defended the right to protest.
Police review on slow track as draconian powers accelerate
The government has pushed through more and more draconian powers for the police to use against peaceful protestors. Yet trust in police integrity, standards and culture has never been lower. There are now six police services (including the Metropolitan Police) who are in special measures. Plus the government has launched their own review after numerous scandals have exposed issues with police recruitment and attitudes:
Continue reading “Police review on slow track as draconian powers accelerate”
Seasons Greetings
| Here is the latest news about what Natalie Bennett and Jenny Jones have been doing recently and a few highlights of 2022 working full time as the Green Party’s representatives in the House of Lords |
Greens in the House newsletter
Much of the legislation we were expecting to be dealing with this Autumn disappeared with the departure of Johnson’s government, but sadly not the Public Order Bill which arrives in the Lords tomorrow. We are yet to see the full implications of the Police Act’s expansion of police powers and the Public Order Bill is full of rehashed versions of provisions already rejected by the House of Lords. You can sign Liberty’s petition opposing the Public Order Bill here.
Much of the legislation we were expecting to be dealing with this Autumn disappeared with the departure of Johnson’s government, but sadly not the Public Order Bill which arrives in the Lords tomorrow. We are yet to see the full implications of the Police Act’s expansion of police powers and the Public Order Bill is full of rehashed versions of provisions already rejected by the House of Lords. You can sign Liberty’s petition opposing the Public Order Bill here.
Police must be open as well as honest
Today I ask whether the government will ensure that the police have a ‘duty of candour’.
One of the main recommendations that came out of the recent report on the murder of Daniel Morgan is that the police should have a “duty of candour”. It seems such a simple and inoffensive change to how the police conduct themselves, but it would generate a flow of fresh air and transparency through the suffocating fog of the UK’s policing culture. The Daniel Morgan case is the most documented example of institutional corruption within the police, but is only one of many going back over several decades.
More organisations get snooping powers
One of the joys of being a peer is being able to give a completely fresh view of things that disrupts the accepted dialogue about a topic. Here I am raising objections to the Investigatory Power Bill at a meeting in the Grand Committee
A Green win for journalistic freedoms
The Government has adopted one of my amendments to the Counter Terrorism Bill as its own. The change will help to guarantee the rights of journalists and academics to view material and to do their job. Continue reading “A Green win for journalistic freedoms”
My legal action on Automated Facial Recognition
Big Brother Watch and myself, have launched a legal action against the Met Police and the Home Office regarding the unregulated use of Facial Reognition Technology. Continue reading “My legal action on Automated Facial Recognition”
Government given Thursday deadline on court action over facial recognition
My solicitors have written to the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police giving them until the 28th June to either stop using automated facial recognition technology or prove that they have a lawful basis to use it. This is their final chance before Big Brother Watch and I jointly initiate judicial review proceedings in the High Court, where we will ask a judge to rule that automated facial recognition is an unlawful breach of our human rights. Continue reading “Government given Thursday deadline on court action over facial recognition”
Environmental Protections: Gove and the Lords vs the Treasury
The Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, has gone to war with the mighty Treasury over their blocking progress on our environmental protections. There is a happy coincidence between this Cabinet bust up, the EU’s taking the government to court over its failure to act on air pollution and the Lords rejecting the government plans for a post Brexit environmental enforcement agency. It highlights why the government should scrap their current flabbyconsultation on the creation of an environmental protection agency and restart it based upon the Lords’ amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Continue reading “Environmental Protections: Gove and the Lords vs the Treasury”
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 