Lord Neuberger, a former President of the Supreme Court, said something we should listen to

Govt’s Internal Markets Bill, which allows UK to breach international law and in vital respects removes right to challenge Govt, puts UK on a “very slippery slope” towards dictatorship

Since Lord Neuberger’s warning, a Bill passed its third reading in the Commons which may prove to be perhaps more dangerous to UK democracy and the Rule of Law than even the Internal Markets Bill

This was Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. #SpyCopsBill

Covert human intelligence sources (“CHIS”) go undercover in order to collect intelligence.

Sometimes, to maintain their cover, CHIS commit crimes. There have been no cases where a CHIS has ever been prosecuted. However, Govt says needs to put protection on a statutory basis.

Bill says that certain designated persons have the power to grant “criminal conduct authorizations”. These are then defined as being authorisation, “for criminal conduct in the course of, or otherwise in connection with, the conduct of a covert human intelligence source.”

From the words of the Bill and the debate in the Commons it is absolutely clear that such an authorisation means the CHIS can commit ANY crime with impunity in connection with being a CHIS, including murder, torture and rape.

There's a long history of CHIS operations being misused and abused by the authorities ordering them inappropriately or by the conduct of the CHIS

One notorious example is that an undercover policeman was sent to infiltrate the group around grieving parents of Stephen Lawrence

The Undercover Policing Inquiry has heard multiple disturbing accounts. These include those from women in groups campaigning on environment, climate, social justice & other issues which are clearly not a danger to the State but which may be highly irritating to a particular govt

Many of these women had relationships and often had children with undercover policemen – who they thought were fellow activists - and now, understandably, feel they have been “raped by the State”.

At least one murder has been linked to agents of the State working undercover. In 1989 a Belfast solicitor, Pat Finucane was shot dead in his own home by loyalist paramilitaries with the now admitted collusion of undercover security forces.

A long list of Trade Unions and left-wing organisations have been targeted over the years. It is striking that only a handful of Far-Right, Neo-Nazi groups have been targeted.

Authorisation has to be for one of three specified but hardly water-tight purposes.
1.National Security
2.Preventing or detecting crime or preventing disorder
http://3.In  the interests of the economic well-being of the UK

Person giving the authorisation also decides if one of these three categories applies. They might, e.g., decide that a group wanting to help the poor, or to rejoin the EU or stop climate catastrophe could be all targeted in “the interests of the economic well-being of the UK”.

List of orgs that can use this power to authorise a CHIS to commit any crime with impunity is incredible, that is (almost) impossible to believe
Any police force
National Crime Agency
Serious Fraud Office
Intelligence services
Armed forces
HMRC
Dept of Health & Social Care
Cont/

Home Office
Ministry of Justice
Competition and Markets Authority
Environment Agency
Financial Conduct Authority
Food Standards Agency
Gambling Commission

Govt claims that they are safeguards in the Bill, but they are wafer thin. They cite Human Rights Act but they have previously argued that Act does not apply to CHIS. Furthermore, Govt has made no secret of its wish to scrap the Human Rights Act and withdraw from the Convention.

Bill grants the power of oversight to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC) but that is only to review (by way of audit, inspection or investigation.) No prior judicial authority is needed. IPC is not remotely adequately resourced to be able to meaningfully oversee the use

There are more safeguards for the police getting a search warrant of a house or garage than for someone in the long list above authorising a CHIS to commit any crime, including murder, torture, rape.

Do you trust Priti Patel, Matt Hancock, Robert Buckland or someone in Food Standards Agency or Gambling Commission or anyone from list above with the power of giving a CHIS a licence to kill or commit other heinous crimes?

WE ARE ON A VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE TOWARDS A DICTATORSHIP