Potentially going against the grain of HN opinion: It strikes me as odd that people are now suddenly condemning the UK gov for trying to maintain its ability t

Potentially going against the grain of HN opinion: It strikes me as odd that people are now suddenly condemning the UK gov for trying to maintain its ability to keep its people safe, particularly when spying is not an unusual or a new power per se. The UK government has had the means and the right to spy on its citizens for hundreds of years, via phone taps, espionage, bugs, steaming open letters and all sorts. It’s served us very well as a country and has also saved many lives - just look at the stats on thwarted terror offences using intercepts as evidence. We are a democracy and if enough people didn’t want the government to hold these powers there exists the means to achieve that via electing a new government. An American company is now threatening to stop selling some of its products in the UK if the government refuses to let it sell products that weaken their ability to police the nation. In the context of what’s important to the country perhaps we should choose security over the profits of Apple’s shareholders.