James Brokenshire MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Security)

Home Office

2 Marsham Street

London

SW1P 4DF

Ref: ML.C0011.AR.24.02.14

Date: 24^th February 2014

Dear James,

I am writing to you regarding the ‘Don’t Spy on Us’ campaign, which I have been contacted about by a number of constituents.  I urge you to back the six key principles that they advocate and which are endorsed by the Open Rights Group, Liberty, English PEN, Privacy International Article 19 and Big Brother Watch. The principles are as follows:

1)      No surveillance without suspicion.

• Mass surveillance must end.  Surveillance is only legitimate when it is targeted, authorised by a warrant, and is necessary and proportionate.

2)      Transparent laws, not secret laws.

• The Government is using secret agreements and abusing archaic laws.  We need a clear legal framework governing surveillance to protect our rights.

3)      Judicial not political authorisation.

• Ministers should not have the power to authorise surveillance.  All surveillance should be sanctioned by an independent judge on a case-by-case basis.

4)      Effective democratic oversight.

• Parliament has failed to hold the intelligence agencies to account.  Parliamentary oversight must be independent of the executive, properly resourced, and able to command public confidence through regular reporting and public sessions.

5)      The right to redress.

• Innocent people have had their rights violated.  Everyone should have the right to challenge surveillance in an open court.

6)      A secure web for all.

• Weakening the general security and privacy of communications systems erodes protections for everyone, and undermines trust in digital services.  Secret operations by government agencies should be targeted, and not attack widely used technologies, protocols and standards.

We urgently need democratic oversight of the intelligence agencies and recent revelations have demonstrated it is sorely lacking.  I therefore hope that the Home Office will commit to effective regulation of the intelligence agencies by backing the “Don’t Spy on Us” six key principles.  I would also urge you to lend your support to calls for an independent inquiry, to report before the next general election, to recommend legislative reform.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter so that I can inform my constituents of the Home Office’s plans.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion