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Cameron pledges 'right to data' | Cameron pledges 'right to data' |
(about 6 hours later) | |
David Cameron has accused Labour of creating a "control state" and vowed a Tory government would hand power back to voters with a new "right to data". | |
In a speech, the Tory leader set out plans to give voters access to information in 20 key areas. | |
These would include crime statistics, the performance of schools and hospitals and road traffic data. | These would include crime statistics, the performance of schools and hospitals and road traffic data. |
Labour and the Lib Dems have both pledged to increase access to data and limit the powers of the state. | Labour and the Lib Dems have both pledged to increase access to data and limit the powers of the state. |
But in a speech at Imperial College in London, Mr Cameron accused Labour of eroding freedoms. | |
'Grim Ripa' | |
He said a future Conservative government would change the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), which has been dubbed a "snooper's charter" by critics, and reconsider the use of stop and search powers under terrorism laws, even though in the past he has argued for increased use of the police tactic. | |
Describing it as "the grim Ripa" he criticised its use by one council to "spy" on a family for three weeks to check they lived in the right catchment area for a school they had applied to. | |
The simple act of providing information to the public has triggered the biggest shake up in our political system for years David Cameron class="" href="/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8119047.stm">Cameron's speech in full | |
He also confirmed that a Conservative government would review the extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and the US. | |
And he expanded on his concept of a "post-bureaucratic age" - one of the key policy themes of his leadership - by dismantling quangos and curbing the salaries of top public officials. | |
Citing the impact on Westminster of the publication of MPs' expenses claims, the Tory leader said that the flow of information had been much more powerful than years of traditional politics. | |
"The simple act of providing information to the public has triggered the biggest shake up in our political system for years," he said. | |
He said it let people "take on the political class" and demand answers and pledged to make more information available to people - on everything from NHS bodies to schools and traffic - if the Conservatives win the next general election. | |
He said that most of the information available from the more than 100,000 public bodies in Britain was not available to the public. | |
The government has said it wants to increase the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and is considering new curbs on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - which it brought in - after revelations about some local councils using it to spy on minor offenders. | The government has said it wants to increase the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and is considering new curbs on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - which it brought in - after revelations about some local councils using it to spy on minor offenders. |
Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently recruited Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with inventing the worldwide web, to look into opening access to more government data. | Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently recruited Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with inventing the worldwide web, to look into opening access to more government data. |