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Politics Blanket surveillance is a stain on our democracy The Government is stopping Parliamentarians from being able to do their job Photo: GETTY By Jenny Jones, London AM, Green Party 11:38AM BST 23 Jul 2015 Comments Comments In a rare public hearing of the shadowy Investigatory Powers Tribunal, Green MP Caroline Lucas and I will challenge what we see as the breaching of the privacy of those who turn to us for help. The case centres on the "Wilson Doctrine" – a little known but highly important government policy that should guarantee that communications between parliamentarians and the public are free from blanket surveillance and interception. The heroics of Edward Snowden in 2013 unveiled the likelihood that the security services have breached the Wilson Doctrine and put the privacy and protection of people contacting parliamentarians at risk. Snowden’s revelations, which uncovered a monstrous blanket surveillance regime taking place in both Britain and the USA, seem to directly contradict our assumed privacy. How can people’s communications with me or my parliamentary colleagues be private if the security services are storing every email communication we send and receive? [snowden_2768588b.jpg] The truth is that despite what the Police presume - the same police who kept me on their Domestic Extremist database for over a decade when I was not only elected, but on the Metropolitan Police Authority to scrutinise them - it's not the emails I send that I worry about. I’m far more concerned that some of the many people who contact me or Caroline – from campaigners whose lives have been ruined by undercover police spies, to asylum seekers in fear of deportation – will now think twice about getting in touch because of the fact that our emails are being watched. The Government will defend their case in court today. I have no doubt that Ministers will rejoice in the curtailing of parliamentarians’ ability to hold the executive to account. If the public are less able to contact us without fear of being spied upon then ministers get an easier ride - it’s as simple as that. [hacking_2915651b.jpg] It is worth noting that parliamentarians shouldn’t be above the law. Instead of blanket surveillance there needs to be a system of judicial oversight which allows the investigation of parliamentarians who are suspected of a crime. From my point of view – as a relative newcomer and persistent (if unintentional) rule breaker in the House of Lords – this blanket surveillance further undermines my own ability to do my job in Parliament, that of holding to account the Government, all their ministers and the state agencies. The second chamber – which I hope will soon be elected rather than appointed – must be persistent thorn in the side of the Government – leaving no stone left unturned in working in the public interest. This blanket surveillance and the undermining of people’s right to contact parliamentarians in private is a stain on our democracy and one which I hope our case in court will help put right. telepolitics Follow @telepolitics Top news galleries Strictly: hottest romances Strictly Come Dancing As Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice announce that they are moving in together, we look at the couples who found time to tango off-screen Comments Sundance Film Festival 2016: the best of the festival in pictures Actor Fisher Stevens with former Police singer Sting at the Sky Ladder: The Art Of Cai Guo-Qiang Sundance Film Festival 2016 in pictures Highlights and red carpet arrivals from America's largest independent film festival, in Park City, Utah Comments Winter around the world A man cleans snow from his car after a heavy snowfall which started the previous night in Odessa, Ukraine. 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