Britain's spooks are normally a shy and retiring bunch. So it was a surprise to see them throw open their doors to the media over the past week. What was the occasion? Cynics suggested it was a charm offensive to drum up support for the Investigatory Powers Bill due to be read in Parliament this week. The bill, dubbed a "snooper's charter", is intended to legitimise the surveillance regime revealed by Edward Snowden - run in the UK from GCHQ's base near Cheltenham, which New Scientist also visited recently (24 October, p 10). As we went to press, the precise content of the bill was still under wraps. But even its outlines are worrying.
展开▼
