Clegg vows to kill off ‘charter for snoopers’

The Liberal Democrat leader has mounted staunch resistance within Government to measures included in Home Secretary Theresa May’s proposed Communications Data Bill which would allow the storage of details of the history of website visits and social media contacts for each internet user.

Reports this week suggested that Mrs May has redrawn the legislation with significant concessions in the hope of getting it included in the Queen’s Speech on May 8.

But Mr Clegg indicated that he is ready to accept only minor technical changes – such as ensuring that every mobile device has its own unique IP address – and does not regard the large-scale retention of internet use records in a “treasure trove” of data to be mined by security officials as either “workable or proportionate”.

Speaking on his weekly Call Clegg phone-in on LBC 97.3 radio, he said: “What people have dubbed the ‘snoopers’ charter’ is not going to happen.

“The idea was that the Government would pass a law which means there would be a record kept of every website you visit, who you communicate with on social media sites. That is not going to happen. It is certainly not going to happen with Liberal Democrats in Government.

“We all committed ourselves at the beginning of this Coalition to learn lessons from the past, when Labour overdid it, trying to ... keep tabs on everyone. We have a commitment in this Coalition Agreement to end the storage of internet information unless there is a very good reason to do so.

“I have spoken to senior police officers and people from the security services. Of course we need to support them. They have got very significant powers already which I support them in deploying to go after criminals to keep us safe.