Labour votes for Investigatory Powers Bill following Government concessions

Three further concessions by the Home Secretary in the Commons this afternoon allowed Labour MPs to vote for the Investigatory Powers Bill.

Following four changes secured by Labour yesterday, Ministers agreed:

·         To work with Labour to find an appropriate threshold for accessing communications data and Internet Connection Records – ensuring they can only be used when investigating serious crimes,

·         That NHS records should be accessed only in exceptional circumstances,

·         Further amendments at a later Parliamentary stage to ensure stronger protections for lawyers and journalists.

The seven concessions matched Labour’s demands issued in March during the Bill’s Second Reading.

Yesterday, the Government confirmed there would be an independent review of all the bulk powers; an historic commitment that trade union activities cannot be considered sufficient reason for investigatory powers to be used; an overarching privacy clause to ensure that privacy is at the heart of the Bill; and gave assurances that the ‘double lock’ process includes power for Judicial Commissioners to scrutinise the decision to issue a warrant, not just the process.

Labour will continue to make demands on the Government as the Bill enters the House of Lords.

Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said:

“Labour has taken a responsible and constructive approach to this Bill, recognising that a new law is needed to update Police powers for the digital age but also to give ordinary people much stronger safeguards against abuse of power.

“Unlike other opposition parties, Labour can claim a series of major victories for the public on strengthening privacy, restricting use of health records and protecting trades unions. Today, we also won further concessions on the protection of journalists and their sources and much tighter controls on the use of Internet Connection Records.

“These are major changes that people would not have thought possible when this process began. A vote against the Bill tonight would have left much weaker legislation standing.”

Keir Starmer MP, Shadow Home Office Minister, said:

“Tonight’s vote shows the hugely significant progress Labour has made on this Bill.

“The Government’s original Bill had a number of serious flaws and we have worked in the last three months to win a string of major concessions.

“It is not a perfect Bill but it now has much stronger safeguards and privacy protections because of Labour’s amendments and our approach. We will now continue to strengthen it as the Bill goes forward.”