Latest editorial
Lords pass ‘Spycops Bill’ despite last-ditch bid to halt it
Labour's Baroness Chakrabarti ‘ashamed’ she couldn’t persuade peers of the ‘dangers of granting advance immunity for criminal actions for a whole raft of state agents’
House of Lords
by Bethany Rielly
THE “Spycop” Bill passed through the House of Lords today despite a last-ditch bid to halt the “dangerous” legislation in its tracks.
A “fatal motion” tabled by Green peer Baroness Jones to prevent the Covert Human Intelligence and Resources (CHIS) Bill from passing was overwhelmingly rejected by 440 to 29 votes.
Under the proposed legislation, public authorities ranging from police and MI5 to the Environmental and Food Standards Agency will be able to authorise agents to commit crimes while undercover.
More from this author
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara
