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On (1), the Secretary of State is not a civil servant, that term means a government minister. The point is that the interception should have been authorised by
by twic 5y ago
On (1), the Secretary of State is not a civil servant, that term means a government minister. The point is that the interception should have been authorised by someone who is not part of the government. I don't know who they think that should be - ideally it would be a judge, but often in the UK this stuff can be authorised by a senior police officer, etc. It might end up being the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, who is basically a rubber stamp:
https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Investigatory_Powers_Commissioner%27s_Office https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Investigatory_Powers_C...
- azalemeth 5y agoOh, I know that the Secretary of State is not (officially) a civil servant. Both are indeed part of government. But as you rightly point out, the person that they do get to independently assess this is overwhelmingly likely to agree to whatever the executive wants: it will be a rubber stamp and thus an approval in all but name from the Secretary of State. I very much doubt that if you found yourself in that job saying 'no' a lot, you'd be in a position to keep it for much longer.
- colinb 5y agoPerhaps, but isn't it received truth that "Yes Minister" means no, except if the minister is feeling "brave", or perhaps "courageous"?
- twic 5y agoJust be absolutely clear for anyone reading, the secretary of state in this case is the home secretary, currently Priti Patel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priti_Patel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priti_Patel She is a Conservative party politician who was elected as an MP, and then appointed to the home office by the prime minister, who is also a Conservative party politician and MP. She is not "not (officially) a civil servant", she is an elected politician.
- billyruffian 5y agoParaphrasing 'Yes Minister', civil servants are in government, ministers are in politics.