Passion Islam I November 2009 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 11
Most Britons still against
UK role in Afghan war
The number of Britons opposed to people polled, 56 percent were They have suffered heavy losses
the country’s involvement in military against Britain’s armed involvement during the war, especially in the
operations in Afghanistan has in Afghanistan. Helmand province, where they are
increased, a new poll shows. The number represents an mainly based.
According to the opinion poll increase, compared to previous Their latest fatality was a soldier
published by BBC at the eighth figures gathered in 2006. killed in the war-torn country on
anniversary of the invasion of Currently, Britain has around 9,150 Monday, taking the overall death toll to
Afghanistan in 2001, out of the 1,010 troops in Afghanistan. 220 since the US-led invasion began.
£380 per min will be spent
tracking your every online click
An astonishing £380 a minute will be
spent on surveillance in a massive
expansion of the Big Brother state.
The £200million-a-year sum will
give officials access to details of every
internet click made by every citizen
- on top of the email and telephone
records already available.
It is a 1,700 per cent increase on
the cost of the current surveillance
regime.
LibDem home affairs spokesman
Chris Huhne described the sum as
‘eye-watering’.
‘There is already enough concern
at the level of Government snooping,’
he said.
‘In an era of tough spending
choices, it cannot be a justified
response to the problems we face as
a country to lavish millions of pounds
a year on state spying.
“The increase in money spent
on tapping phones and emails is all
the more baffling when Britain is still
one of the few countries not to allow cost of the new system emerged in a to internet records will be introduced
intercept evidence in court, even in series of Parliamentary answers. by Parliament before the end of the
terrorist cases.’ It is to cover payments to internet year.
State bodies including councils service providers so they can store They are known as the Intercept
are already making one request every mountains of information about every Modernisation Programme.
minute to spy on the phone records customer for a minimum of 12 months, Alex Deane, director of campaign
and email accounts of members of and set up new systems to cope. group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘The
the public. The actual content of calls and Government is preparing to make
The number of snooping missions emails is not be kept - only who they British people pay through the nose
carried out by police, town halls and were from or to, when they took place so that they can track our movements
other government departments has and where they were sent from. online.’
rocketed by 44 per cent in two years Police, security services and There were 504,073 made last
to a rate of 1,381 new cases every other public authorities can then year to intercept email and telephone
day. request access to the data as part of records under the Regulation of
Ministers say the five-year cost of investigations. Investigatory Powers Act. It was
the existing regime is £55.61million, Some 653 bodies are currently passed ostensibly to fight terrorism.
an average of £11million a year. allowed access, including councils, But it has been used to spy on
This is paid to phone companies the Financial Services Authority, the people suspected of putting their
and service providers to meet the Ambulance Service and fire authorities bins out on the wrong day, dropping
cost of keeping and providing private and prison governors. litter and attempting to cheat school
information about customers. The The new rules allowing access catchment area
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28