I am ungemused, but not surprised, to see that the EU superstate has been spending over £320M of EU taxpayers' money (£46M of UK taxpaeyrs' money) on developing surveillance drones without proper democratic oversight.
Neither the House of Commons nor the European Parliament has been consulted over the development of EU unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are being designed to police Europe's skies on law enforcement missions.
A report by Statewatch, a European civil liberties watchdog, has uncovered a
secret £58M budget line that was inserted into new EU
legislation on air traffic control for this year as "a politically
driven priority" to develop drones for surveillance by European police
forces, border guards and security services.
MEPs and MPs will not be consulted on the programme or the regulation clearing the development of law enforcement drones that are expected to be cruising the skies in surveillance searches for criminals or to secure public order by the end of the decade.
Ben Hayes, one of the report's authors, is quoted by the Telegraph:
Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich, chairman of the Commons public Administration select committee and a former shadow defence secretary, said:
"Despite the widely held civil liberties and privacy concerns about the use of drones for policing and surveillance purposes, there's not been a single jot of democratic scrutiny of the EU's activities in this area.
This is a recipe for irresponsible innovation and a proper debate about where the technology is headed is long overdue."
Bernard Jenkin, Conservative MP for Harwich, chairman of the Commons public Administration select committee and a former shadow defence secretary, said:
"What more proof do people need that the EU is now beyond any kind of democratic accountability? This is a bureaucracy that is out of control, and spending taxpayers' money on the industries under whose influence they operate, with no democratic oversight.
If they had a choice, this is not what UK defence or Treasury ministers want to spend our money on."
A June 2013 commission "roadmap"
acknowledged "societal issues" over aerial surveillance by drones
but concluded in "the public area there is no privacy at all".
Read that bit again....
NO PRIVACY AT ALL!
A UK government spokesman said:
"Decisions regarding the development of this technology is a sovereign matter, and not for EU institutions. The UK is working together with other countries, including France, on the development of certain technology aspects to reduce our own development costs. But the UK will not participate in a project to develop a European unmanned air system."The only glimmer of hope that we may have is that if the current rain and wind continues these things will never get off the ground!
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One more step on the path to a totalitarian police state! Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't World War 2 fought to prevent this kind of thing spreading? Those who sacrificed so much for our freedom must be really proud! I bet Winston Churchill is spinning in his grave!
ReplyDeleteIf these things are to be unmanned then shooting them down (so long as it was done over unpopulated land) would present no hazard to life and therefore could be not only acceptable but also possibly a new sport to rival clay-pigeon shooting. If they totally ban shotguns then I'm sure it wouldn't be beyond the wit of man to build a radio-control device to "hijack" and crash them.
ReplyDeleteWhat's been conveniently forgotton is Air Traffic Control have more powers than the police and EU combined. Police want a helicopter to follow a suspect....not if ATC say's they can't. Many a time a policecopter has tried to cross airspace @ Manchester Airport but have been declined permission as jets are lined up waiting to land.
ReplyDeleteThese drones are treated in now way differently than policecopters. If they are in the way of air traffic, they can't take off. Wahey!!
All repressive regimes have had to spy on their citizens because they are not popular.......As Brussels, aided and abetted by our politicians, create the USSR Mk2, so our rights and liberties are restricted more and more.
ReplyDelete