December 10, 2008

Tales from Modern Britain

When the spooks think matters have got out of hand then, you know, they've probably gotten out of hand.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) was passed in 2000 to regulate the way that public bodies such as the police and the security services carry out surveillance. Originally only a handful of authorities were able to use RIPA but its scope has been expanded enormously and now there are at least 792 organisations using it, including hundreds of local councils.

This has generated dozens of complaints about anti-terrorism legislation being used to spy on, for example, a nursery suspected of selling pot plants unlawfully, a family suspected of lying about living in a school catchment area, and paperboys suspected of not having the right paperwork.

Now those campaigning against the abuse of RIPA have got a new ally – Lady Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5. In a speech in the House of Lords yesterday, she said she was "astonished" when she found out how many organisations were getting access to RIPA powers.

Well, yes. Quite so. And yet there you have it. In addition to this public service, Baroness B-M did us a service by clarifying the accepted pronunciation of RIPA:

When RIPA was introduced—those of us in the intelligence community call it “Ripper”, as in “Jack the”, and not “Reaper”, as in “the Grim”; there is no correct pronunciation, but I always call it “Ripper” and so do my former colleagues.

[Hat-tip: Chicken Yoghurt.]

10 Dec 2008 17:57:26 | Britain, O Tempora, O Mores

2 Comments

Sam G

First paragraph: "gotten"? O tempora, O Mores indeed.

Posted by: Sam G | December 10, 2008 at 06:45 PM

juicy couture outlet

campaigning against the abuse of RIPA

Posted by: juicy couture outlet | May 31, 2011 at 10:13 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

NEXT POST
Delaying Detroit's Death Now as it happens, American cars are, generally speaking, much better than they used to be. And Ford and GM have demonstrated that, in europe at least, they know how to build small cars capable of doing more than 20 miles to the gallon. Even in the United States, the Big Three have greatly improved reliability, build-quality and, at least in some of their plants, productivity. The best American cars really aren't all that different, or poorer than their Japanese rivals. But though Detroit has responded to Japanese quality, carbuyers haven't updated their perceptions. Hence this mock-ad: Harsh? Only partially. But this is a sentiment shared by millions of car-owners. The perception that GM and Ford and Chrysler build crappy cars is just another obstacle to recovery. And of course it's a perception that, even if out of date, is predicated upon the bitter memories of the crap cars they really did build. Turns out it takes a while for that perception to fade. One more reason why you shouldn't crap on your own brand. So the current crisis, driven by poor management and stupid unions, is also built upon the junk they spent years selling to gullible consumers taken...
PREVIOUS POST
Michael Gerson Cares More Than You Do Michael Gerson, formerly George W Bush's chief speechwriter, has been to the Congo. As you might imagine, it's pretty grim there. So, naturally, Gerson has this to say: Security in eastern Congo is the prerequisite for political progress. Nkunda will continue to push until someone effectively pushes back. The Congolese army is incapable of defeating him. While the U.N. peacekeeping force is the reason that Goma was not taken, it does not have the political will and the capabilities to contain Nkunda. It lacks rapid-reaction forces and night-fighting capabilities. This leaves one alternative -- a capable, hard-hitting European military force, supported by the United States, which would stabilize the situation, give the peacekeeping force some breathing room and put a limit on Nkunda's ambitions. But Britain and Germany, to their shame, have opposed this kind of "bridging force." (It is particularly obscene that Germany, of all nations, should lose its outrage at mass violence.) OK! Now I suspect that Gerson also thinks that we should commit troops to the Sudan. And perhaps to Zimbabwe too. And of course he'd also want to see europe pour more soldiers into Afghanistan. But you can file this column in a drawer marked Pointless....

alex massie

Search

My Online Status

Recent Comments