Sunday 29 January 2017

UK Receives Assurances That UK 'Dual Citizens' Will Have Passage Into The United States



UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had lobbied and secured free entry and passage for UK's dual citizens according to one of US President Donald Trump's advisers. The statement comes after the US President had signed an executive order that would bar entry to the US against individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.  The world met the US President's first executive order with an immense backlash in social media and other channels.



The UK Foreign Secretary received word from one of Donald Trump's advisers that the ban only applies to the seven nations mentioned. However, UK Prime Minister Theresa May had condemned the policy, having her to urge the Foreign Secretary to "fight for British rights" in entering the United States.

Despite the US allowances on the British, activists in the country had protested against Donald Trump and the signed travel ban. Thousands of citizens attended marches in Downing Street to force 

UK Prime Minister Theresa May to cut short her state visit to Donald Trump as a form of protest. The Telegraph reports that 800,000 people have signed the petition to decline her visit to the United States.

 According to Amnesty UK Director Kate Allen, the protests were significant as the US ban was a failure to serve proper human rights and to uphold basic human decency. According to Allen, Trump's administration had "willfully demonised" children, women and men fleeing war-torn countries who are in need of help despite these individuals who are running away from predators including "torturers and mass murderers."

Sunday 1 January 2017

IPB Is Now In Full Force; All Emails And Phone Calls Effectively Under Government Surveillance

"1984" Author George Orwell's technophobia and societal satire has finally come true -- in 2017.
The UK's Investigatory Powers Bill -- now the Investigatory Powers "Act" -- will place all UK citizens under a heavy surveillance routine. Every UK citizen is now effectively under government surveillance as new powers to gather and retain data on citizens and new ways to use technology companies' user database for government security causes are introduced.



The controversial bill -- also known as the "Snooper's Charter" -- will allow the government to collect Internet Connection Records. Intelligence agencies and police could then stop modern crime and prosecute said individuals using information evidences.

 According to Amnesty International's Policy Director Bella Sankey, the UK is entering a "sad day" as the bill was passed last month. She said she agreed with Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to security for the UK but the measures are invasive and "won't do the job."  Sankey said that the Act opens "every detail of every citizen's online life up to state eyes" and can "drown authorities in data."


Sankey urged a "campaign for a surveillance law fit for the digital age" and must "continue to the courts." Despite public resentment, the bill pushed through as MPs quietly passed the bill.