[6626] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: TechWeb 10/2/2000: "E-Spying Bill Called 'Escrow By Intimidation'"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ian BROWN)
Mon Feb 14 14:19:58 2000
To: Bill Stewart <bill.stewart@pobox.com>
Cc: Caspar Bowden <cb@fipr.org>, cryptography <cryptography@c2.net>
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 13 Feb 2000 00:24:08 PST." <3.0.5.32.20000213002408.00a7ec20@idiom.com>
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Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 19:10:43 +0000
Message-ID: <2570.950555443@cs.ucl.ac.uk>
From: Ian BROWN <I.Brown@cs.ucl.ac.uk>
>A question on UK legislative terminology:
>Does "published a bill" mean that Parliament approved it?
>Or does it just mean that the ministers are proposing this law
>that they'd _like_ to get Parliament to pass, but it
>hasn't been passed yet?
The latter. A Bill becomes an Act once it has been approved by Parliament.
However, the Labour government has a large majority (179 as I recall) and is
ferocious in forcing its MPs to vote the way it wants. This parliamentary
term, even more than Margaret Thatchers' in the 80s, has been a a real
demonstration of an "elective dictatorship" in action.
One of our few consolations is that the government has brought the European
Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, which provides at least some
remedy against over-encroachment of government power -- though far less than
the US Constitution.
Ian :)
